A Little Slice of Heaven
by whydoyouneedtoknow
Summary: Now complete. Another AU of the LwD universe. Opens in Marauder era: Danger goes to Hogwarts, Peter gets a girlfriend, and much zaniness ensues. LwD and canon ships. Has improbably happy ending.
1. Prologue

(Disclaimer: If they were mine, I'd be off somewhere sunny, eating strawberries and luxuriating in the frustrated groans of my fans as they wait for the sixth book... instead, I'm sitting at my computer, listening to the rain... no, they're not mine. Well, most of the ones in this chapter are. But if you can't tell the difference between the ones I made up and the ones JKR did... bad fan! Bad!

One more AU of an AU, ladies and germs, and this one answers a question I was asked in a review, as well as following up on something Danger said in LwoD – what would their lives have been like if Remus and Danger had met "normally"? To take it a step further, what would all their lives have been like if... well, read on to find out what the big if's are around here!

And I should warn you that parts of this chapter will make no sense to you yet. Unless you are incredibly astute, in which case, kudos to you. But it will become blindingly obvious in retrospect. Good luck.)

* * *

Prologue 

Margaret Ravenclaw sat alone in the Great Hall at her embroidery frame. An unfamiliar footstep made her look up in surprise.

"Hello, Maggie," said the young woman standing in the doorway. "I hope I'm not disturbing you – I can come back later if I am..."

"No, no, of course not! Please, come in, Miss Walsh!"

"Maggie, please," the young woman protested, laughing. "It's Anne. You know that."

"Yes, of course, all right. Anne." Margaret blushed slightly. "It's just... you know."

"Yes, I know." Two pairs of hazel eyes met, one dancing with mischief. "It's all right."

"What have you got up your sleeve, Miss Anne?" demanded Alexander Slytherin, appearing out of thin air. "Besides your arm – I know all your best lines."

"I taught you all my best lines," countered Anne. "Paul, don't even think about it."

"Awww," said a disappointed Paul Gryffindor from behind her. "But I wanted to pick you up."

"I know you did, and I know why, and the answer is still no."

"Do grow up, Paul," said Maura Gryffindor from behind her brother. "Anne, how lovely to see you."

"You too, Maura – and you know he can't grow up, or he wouldn't be the Paul we all know and love."

"Love to hate, maybe," said Brenna Ravenclaw, coming in through a side door. "How are you, Anne?"

"I'm well enough... dying of excitement, though... only a month left now..."

"And we won't tell you anything," said Adam Hufflepuff. "And you think we're cruel and unusual for it."

"Yes, I do!" Anne crossed her arms and pouted. "You might give me just a tiny teeny little hint."

"We've given you lots already," said Maura firmly. "You'll just have to deal with them."

"And wait your turn like everyone else," said Sophia Ravenclaw. "So. We all being gathered, besides our slowpoke parents, what might your plans be?"

"Naughty, naughty," Anne chided, wagging her finger. "We'll wait for those slowpoke parents. They often have good insights."

The three remaining original Founders entered the Great Hall in a dignified group. The dignity soon vanished as Rowena and Helga embraced Anne like a daughter, and Godric shook her hand warmly. "You never come here yourself unless you have some important idea," he said, seating himself at the round table that appeared. "So what is it this time?"

"Another secondary weaving for you to watch over," Anne said, directing her words towards Brenna, but allowing no mistake that she meant everyone else as well. "And this one is to be so bright and cheery that in some moods, there will be no standing it."

Alex leaned forward eagerly. "Are you going to let me, this time?" he asked.

"Let you what?" teased Anne.

"You know perfectly well what! Are you?"

Anne smiled. "Yes."

Alex leaped into the air, yelling for joy, and remained there for about ten seconds, at which time the combined powers of the other ten people present returned him gently but firmly to his chair.

"When?" was the first understandable word out of his mouth.

"Hmm. Let me see." Anne pulled a scrap of paper from the pocket of her jean shorts. "Standard timeline... more or less, a few adjustments here and there... shall we say March of '75? Give him time to get nefarious, then take him down but good."

Alex nodded. "Yes'm. March of '75. You got it. You want it, you got it. That's me, Alex, cold-blooded killer. Snuff 'em on demand. That's what I do."

"Save it for someone who doesn't know you like I do, you big pussycat," said Anne fondly. "Now then, going to need to change around a few birth times... and one major bloodline change..."

Brenna Ravenclaw pulled out a long list, and she and Anne, along with the other women, bent over it.

"That one, there," said Anne, stabbing a finger down. "Can we get that essence transferred to..." She flipped over a few pages. "This line? I'll arrange for the continuance factor, because this first one's going extinct too soon, with these changes, to sustain this... and the circumstances for the removal process won't be present, even if the substance bits worked out, which they won't..."

"I think that can be done," said Brenna, making a note. "Completely different physical parameters, of course, you know."

"I know. No harm there, I don't think. Do you?"

Shaking heads all around the table.

"Good. Now, need to move a couple up – this one just a bit, this one a bit more – this one needs to go back to type – and do you think we could get these two combined? Because we need them both, but you know as well as I do about the time factor..."

"Combination's doable. Ditto for the moving – as long as you make sure the substance is in position on time."

"Don't worry, it will be." Anne grinned. "Just watch the mistress work. Oh yes, and I need a flip-on for You-All-Know-Who. She's going in."

"Well, good for her." Adam nodded. "Give her some opportunities. Think we can handle that, Mum?"

"Of course. We'd be delighted."

"Are you sure you want to go that route?" asked Godric. "If you flip her on, you know she loses her particular edge."

"I'm dealing with that," said Anne, sliding a sheet of parchment across the table. "See what you think."

Godric read, then nodded. "Yes, I think that will serve nicely. And I take it you want all else remaining the same."

"If it's not too much trouble."

Godric smiled. "No trouble at all. Not when you bring something like this to our table. A little slice of heaven for us to craft and watch over, and return to when the other worlds of our tending become too painful."

* * *

(A/N: And, so, we're off. This is the Prologue, which means that the other chapters will tend to be a bit longer, but all in all this is going to be short. Shorter than "Maybe". So I might do again what I did for that, and just update this like a maniac until it's finished. Or I might not. We'll see. Please don't forget to review, even if you're just saying "I didn't understand one word of that.") 


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Chapter 1: The Beginning

September 1, 1972

Another school year was beginning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Old friends met and greeted one another, hugging or shaking hands, talking very loudly and very fast, catching up on all the really important news that couldn't be sent by owl post.

"Moony!" shouted a voice over the crowd. "Moony, over here!"

Third year Remus Lupin carefully maneuvered his way through the crowd to the side of the shouter, one Sirius Black, who grinned at him and slapped him on the back, making Remus stagger slightly. "You look like hell," he said conversationally.

Remus turned his eyes upwards to the heavens.

"I know, I know, it was just a couple days ago – come on, let's get seats at the table before they all go. James! He's over here, I've got him!"

"You've got me?" repeated Remus, amused. "What am I, some kind of fish?"

"A wolf-fish... maybe, maybe."

Remus punched his friend lightly on the shoulder. Sirius shrugged it off and bowed elegantly to a passing group of second years. "Ladies," he said gallantly.

The leader of the group looked at him disdainfully. "Buzz off, Black," she said coldly. "Just because we're going to have to play together, doesn't mean I have to like you." She turned and walked away, her mutter of "Purebloods," clearly audible.

Sirius stood where he was for a moment, watching her go. "D'you ever get the feeling Freeman doesn't like me?" he asked Remus.

"Only every day, Sirius. About as often as I get the feeling Evans doesn't care much for James."

"They'll come around," said Sirius with overly hearty confidence. "And when are you going to fall for a girl, anyway? It doesn't need to be anything too major... but you ought to loosen up a little, lose your heart to somebody. At least give it a try."

Remus sighed, with an air of going over something one more time. "Sirius, you know why I can't. I could never offer a girl anything except friendship, and I shouldn't even get involved in that, because I'd be almost certain to want it to be more. And it can't ever be."

"What, just because you're – you know? Come on, Moony, it's not like it's happening every night, or you can't predict it or something! You know exactly when it's going to happen, and when you take the right precautions, nothing bad happens – to anyone else, that is," Sirius added hastily, looking at the fresh scars on his friend's arms. "Brace yourself."

Remus did so without asking why, and thus was ready for James Potter's highly impetuous greeting, and Peter Pettigrew's slightly more timid one. All happily talking to each other at once, the four boys who had already begun terrorizing the school under the name of the Marauders made their way into the entrance hall of Hogwarts.

* * *

The Marauders' fellow third year, Lily Evans, sat down at the Gryffindor table, as far from the four boys as she could without making it blindingly obvious that she was avoiding them, right next to the second year who had repulsed Sirius. "How was your summer?" she asked Aletha Freeman. 

"Oh, not bad. I tried getting in touch with an old friend, but it seems she's moved, and the post office didn't have her forwarding address anymore."

"Oh, that's too bad – why didn't you send her an owl?"

Aletha laughed. "She's a Muggle, Lily! The sight of an owl on her windowsill would probably scare her silly!" Then she reconsidered. "No, it wouldn't scare her. Almost nothing scared her. Except the evil roller skates."

"The evil roller skates?" Lily repeated, laughing herself. "This I have to hear!"

* * *

The Marauders watched curiously as the line of first years came up the aisle. "I'm not quite as sorry for the Slytherins as I once was," said James. 

"Why?" asked Peter.

"Lucius Malfoy's gone. Last year was his seventh."

"Nuts," Sirius groaned. "And I never turned his beautiful hair all the colors of the rainbow."

"He probably went off to join You-Know-Who," said Remus quietly, so as not to attract undue attention.

Peter shuddered. "He's crazy if he did," he said with as firm a conviction as he ever managed for anything. "Why would anyone join a lunatic who wants to kill people?"

"Good question," said James. "One my parents have been asking for years."

"Like father, like son," quipped Sirius.

"Only works in some instances. Case in point, yourself."

Sirius nodded. "My father was a spoiled rotten pureblood bastard who never worked a day in his life and wanted everything to come easy to him. He probably got into Slytherin just by virtue of not being smart enough for Ravenclaw or enough of a worker for Hufflepuff and despising Gryffindor on principle. His only real ambition was to further the line and then have everyone leave him alone."

"And he did," said Remus. "Two sons, in case one disappointed him."

Sirius grinned. "And I did. I am the official family disappointment."

"What about Andy?" asked James.

"Well, her too."

"Who's Andy?" asked Peter.

"Andromeda Black – Andromeda Tonks now. Cousin of mine, Ravenclaw, you may remember her, she just left last year – married a Hufflepuff bloke over the summer, name of Ted Tonks, very nice chap – but Muggleborn. Just try to imagine, Petie, my perfect family reacting to that."

"Narcissa Black's her little sister," said James, nodding to the Slytherin table, where a blond young woman sat, listening to the Sorting Hat's song. "This is her last year, isn't it, Sirius?"

"I'm not sure. Might be next. And then there's their big sister... the ever-lovely Bella..."

Remus groaned. "Bellatrix Black. Honestly, there ought to be laws against people like that. Did you see how Severus Snape looked up to her?"

"Her and the Lestrange brothers," said Sirius with a grimace. "I think that'll be a match one of these days."

"Which one? Rabastan or Rodolphus?" asked James.

"Rodolphus, I think... but she might go for either, there's no real way of telling, and to her it would be the alliance that counts – not to mention which one of them she could bully more easily..."

"Shush," said Remus. "The Sorting's starting."

Professor McGonagall was reading names from her list and placing the Hat on heads. The Marauders cheered every time it called out "GRYFFINDOR!" and surreptitiously booed every time a new Slytherin was inducted.

Sirius and James kept sneaking glances down the table to where Lily Evans and Aletha Freeman were sitting together, but by chance, neither of them was looking at the girls when Professor McGonagall read out "Granger, Gertrude!"

* * *

Aletha gasped in shock. "Danger!" 

"What is it?" asked Lily worriedly.

"No, no, not the thing, not any real danger – my friend! The one I was trying to get in touch with!"

A girl with a great deal of bushy brown hair had come forward to sit on the stool. Aletha beamed. "This is wonderful! She's a witch, she's at Hogwarts! Oh, Lily, you're going to love her!"

"Is this the girl you were just telling me about – your best friend when you were little?"

"Yes, that's her. Oh, come on," Aletha muttered to the Sorting Hat. "Come on, come on, please..."

* * *

"GRYFFINDOR!" 

The girl leapt off the stool and hurried over to the table, grinning widely.

"Gertie!" called out a voice, and the girl's head whipped around.

"Letha!" she cried happily.

The Marauders watched Aletha Freeman hugging the new arrival. "Must be old friends," said Sirius.

"Must be," Remus agreed, still watching the girl. Her hair bounced rather appealingly when she ran, and her smile was electricity tamed and leashed, ready to be let out at her whim...

Remus shook his head. _Why am I thinking in bad poetic images? She's a first year Gryffindor witch, just like all the others. We'll nod in the hallways or meet in the common room. I'll never be in really close contact with her. She's not important._

But his eyes lingered on her a moment longer anyway.

* * *

As she had promised, or perhaps threatened, Aletha Freeman tried out for the empty Beater slot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and made it, becoming Sirius Black's partner. 

"They seem to be able to put their differences aside for the duration of practice, or of the match," said Remus to Peter as they watched James score a goal in the first Quidditch game of the year, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. "Now if they could just figure out how to do it in the rest of their lives."

Lily Evans, as usual, studied all day and most of the night, and consequently plagued everyone's lives out by knowing the answers to about ninety-five percent of the questions the teachers asked in class. Remus studied quite a lot himself, having stretches of time every month when he wasn't able to do much else, and finding that studying often helped distract him from the pain he experienced before and after full moons.

Gertrude Granger, Danger as everyone soon learned to call her, was nearly as much a bookish wonder as Lily in her own year. Remus walked into the library one day shortly before Christmas and was astounded to see Danger conducting a study session for not only her own Housemates, but a number from the other houses as well – including one or two Slytherins. Impulsively, he sat down nearby and listened.

"So, Williamson, can you tell me one of the three major causes of that goblin rebellion we learned about in class today?" she asked.

"Er, the goblins were worried about competition from the Sorcerer's Stone, because it was created during that period?"

"Very good. Rodgers, how about you?"

"Erm... wizards weren't respecting them as equals?"

"Excellent, and Johnston, how about the third?"

"Upheaval in the Muggle world – they took advantage of the wizards being preoccupied."

"Very good, you've got them all. All right, we'll meet again after the holidays, I hope you all have a nice time at home, good luck everyone..."

The group began packing up and leaving. When they were all gone, Remus approached the table where Danger sat, reviewing her notes.

"Remus Lupin," he said, holding out his hand.

It was taken in a small, warm, dry one. "Gertrude Granger. But everyone calls me Danger. Except if they're shouting for me, that could have some bad effects."

Remus chuckled. "Yes, especially in a crowded theater. You seem to know a lot about History of Magic."

"I like to read. And tell stories. History is all just one long story, you know, and all the parts interact." She shook her head. "I know they can't exactly sack Professor Binns, he is a ghost after all, but they ought to get an adjunct or something. No one's ever going to learn anything in that class, just memorize it long enough to spit it out on the test, then forget about it. So I'm trying to fix that, at least a little."

"Why include Slytherins, though?"

She looked perplexed. "Why not? They need good grades as much as anyone – more, if they're so ambitious as everyone seems to think they are. What harm will they do in a study session, anyway?"

Remus shrugged. "As long as they're not rude, or don't make trouble."

"They never have. And if they did, I'd just invite them to leave and not come back." She grinned. "And they won't. Their grades depend on me, and they know it."

"Just watch out for them. Slytherins are only friendly when there's something in it for them. One of them might decide they want more from you than you're willing to give."

"You mean like answers instead of just study help?"

"Yes."

"I don't do that. It's wrong. And if one of them tried to ask me about it, I'd tell them exactly where to get off."

"Where's that?"

"Off the top of the Astronomy Tower, if they try anything funny."

Remus laughed.

They kept talking for quite a while, discussing mutual acquaintances. "Why does Aletha dislike Sirius and James so much?" asked Remus.

"She's under the impression they're like all the rest – stuck-up purebloods. I think Sirius made some crack last year that she took the wrong way, and they just keep setting up each other's backs."

Remus nodded. "Sirius does tend to do that. Set up people's backs, I mean."

"And James Potter doesn't? Lily Evans thinks he's the most arrogant little prig that ever walked the earth – and pardon me for saying so, but she's not far wrong. Has he always thought he's the best thing that ever happened to the world?"

Remus would have bristled at this insult to his friend, had he not been thinking the same thing himself recently. "I think it's getting worse as he's going through... you know. Changes."

"So maybe it'll die down when he's done... changing?" Danger's smile turned ever so vaguely salacious, then was back to normal. "I hope so. For all our sakes."

_I like her. She's sassy, smart, friendly..._

_We could be good friends. I hope we will._

* * *

The spring of that year was unusually rainy, even for Hogwarts, necessitating that many breaks be taken inside. One of these breaks nearly led to violence, when Narcissa Black deliberately referred to her sister Andromeda as a weakling in Sirius' hearing. 

"She married for love," she said with a snort. "A fiction and a folly. No true wizard or witch would allow himself to be tainted by such."

Sirius had hexed Narcissa before anyone could stop him. James and Remus tackled him and Peter pried the wand from his hand, and two of Narcissa's friends held back the furious sixth year after a third had reversed Sirius' Freezing Charm.

"Cold, unfeeling bitch," snarled Sirius.

"Bastard of a blood traitor," spat Narcissa.

Their respective friends removed them both from the room before further violence could break out.

* * *

"It was pretty impressive," said Danger a week or two later. "He's fast with that thing. Is he thinking of becoming – oh, what's it called, a magical policeman?" 

"An Auror. Yes, he is. James, too. His father is one – James' father – and they're going to be needed more than ever, I'm afraid."

"That's right, I've been hearing about some Dark wizard or other. What's his name again? I heard it once – I think – and then everyone says 'You-Know-Who' like he was the prime minister or something."

Remus chuckled, then checked behind him to make sure no one was nearby. "He calls himself Lord Voldemort. An assumed name, of course, but no one seems to know anything more about him, except that he's strong and getting stronger. Gathering followers, too – Sirius' cousin Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus, they were just married this past winter, and his brother Rabastan – I'd bet anything they're listening to him."

"He's one of these 'magic for the purebloods' types, isn't he?"

"Yes." Remus wasn't sure quite how much to tell a Muggleborn first year. "He's... not friendly towards Muggleborns."

Danger shrugged. "Doesn't affect me. Not yet, at any rate. Where are you spending the summer holidays?"

Remus could recognize a polite change of subject when he heard it. "With my parents. We live in Cold Crossing, in Surrey."

"Cold Crossing?" Danger looked amazed. "We're practically neighbors! I live in Little Whinging – that's only fifteen minutes away!"

"It's a small world," said Remus, forcing a smile. "Er, listen, I've got to... go study for Charms..."

"Oh, of course, don't let me keep you."

Remus made his escape and hurried to his dorm, where he sat down on his bed and stared out the window.

_I was just lucky she didn't ask if she could come and see me during the summer._

_So why don't I feel lucky? _

_Maybe I'll have this straightened out by next year._

* * *

But the next year brought little relief. Lord Voldemort continued to grow quietly stronger, with his name, or rather the sobriquet bestowed on him, whispered more and more often. Narcissa Black became engaged to Lucius Malfoy, and walked about the school proudly, head held high. James Potter and Lily Evans, and Sirius Black and Aletha Freeman, continued to quarrel. Remus continued with his usual routine, trying to act the part of just another student and make his frequent absences seem as normal as possible. 

In this, he found Danger a strangely willing ally. Through her study group, which was coming to include students older than herself as well as her peers and the new class of first years, she exerted something of a wide influence on the school grapevine, and once she had let it be known that Mrs. Lupin was ill, poor woman, and needed her son to come home every so often just to see her, Remus found his story rather more widely accepted.

_What did people think I was doing? Running off to see a girlfriend or something?_

Remus' life was also complicated by his having to aid and shelter three amateur wanna-be Animagi. There were days when he despaired of James, days when he despaired of Sirius, and days when all of them despaired of Peter.

And then there was the day James found out that Peter had taken part of the Animagus work that he simply could not figure out to Danger Granger.

* * *

James paced around their dorm, hands clutching his hair. "Are you out of your mind? She's a second year – how did you think she was going to help you?" 

"And how were you planning to pass it off as classwork? She knows perfectly well, or she should, that we don't start human transfiguration until sixth year!" Sirius had gotten in on the act as well.

"_Did _she help you, Wormtail?" asked Remus, unable to stand the woeful look on Peter's face any longer.

Peter brightened up immediately. "Yes. She did. She did the wand motion for me, and I saw I was using too much wrist and not enough shoulder – and now I can do it!"

James groaned melodramatically and flopped down on his bed. "Wonderful. Brilliant. Fantastic. You went and took a piece of an Animagus transformation spell to the biggest gossip in the school!"

"Don't call her that!" Remus was on his feet, surprised at himself. "She doesn't gossip! She didn't spread that damn story about me and Sirius, did she?"

"Well, I don't know," drawled Sirius, getting to his feet himself. "It certainly got all over the school pretty fast."

"That was Narcissa's doing and you bloody well know it," snapped Remus. "Danger tried to _stop_ it. She's been defending you to everyone for weeks and you don't even deserve it!"

Peter snickered. "Remus and Danger, sitting in a tree..."

"Oh, shut up."

James joined in.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"I said stop it!"

Sirius added his voice, grinning.

"First comes love,

"Then comes marriage,

"Then comes a baby in a baby carriage..."

Remus pulled his wand. Within a few seconds, the other three Marauders found themselves hiding and ducking for dear life as he sent a hailstorm of hexes at them. James and Sirius began retaliating, causing Remus to step up his attacks. Peter hid under his bed, peering out at the action.

The Marauders called a truce after a stray spell of James' set Sirius' bedcurtains on fire. Peter emerged for the post-fight analysis and talk, which mostly consisted of Remus' indignant declarations that he did _not_ like the Granger girl, or at least, he didn't _like_ like her.

"And besides, even if I did, there wouldn't be any baby in a baby carriage for us. I won't ever have kids. I can't even adopt."

"Who wants kids?" asked Sirius. "Noisy, smelly little things. They scream a lot, too."

"Hear the expert," said James. "When have you ever been around little kids?"

"There's been babies in my family. Not a lot, but a few. Andy had a baby last year – did you know? A little girl."

"No, I didn't – what's her name?"

Sirius grinned. "Get ready for this one – she'll hate her mum forever – Nymphadora."

"Nymphadora?"

"You have _got_ to be kidding."

"What does it even mean?"

"Got me." Sirius shrugged. "Andy may be the rebel, but she's still stuck in the 'give-our-children-weird-names' rut. If I do ever have children, I'm giving them plain simple names."

"Like what?" asked James.

"I don't know. Meghan, maybe. Or Harry."

"Harry?" asked Peter. "Isn't that usually short for something?"

"It can be. But it can just be a name on its own."

"You'd better make sure Letha likes it," said James, wiggling his eyebrows. Then his expression turned from silly to thoughtful. "Harry. I think _I_ like it."

"Then you'd better check with Lily," said Remus ultra-blandly.

Peter retreated under his bed once again.

* * *

Home for the summer, Remus found himself bored. There really wasn't much to do around his house – he loved his parents dearly, but there was only so much time he could stand to spend practicing his violin and playing duets with his mother, or listening to his father's anecdotes about work. 

He found himself waiting impatiently for James' or Sirius' owls to arrive, snatching the letters from them when they did, then writing long and detailed replies. However, the replies the owls actually carried back were inevitably as short and jaunty as the letters Remus had received. The last thing he wanted was to let his friends know that he was lonely. Or that he missed them even more as full moon approached.

His father had placed reinforcing and strengthening charms on a closet in the front hall, and that was where Remus spent his transformation nights. There were also Silencers in the walls, to muffle the sound of his howls. At the moment, he didn't have to worry about locking himself in and letting himself out, since his parents took care of that, but he diverted his mind while waiting for moonrise by thinking about how he would manage it. Perhaps a safe where he could leave his wand – werewolves couldn't open combination locks. Or something that would respond to a spoken password...

He was still thinking about it when the moon rose.

In the morning, he awoke, bruised and bleeding as usual, and waited for his father to come and unlock the door, for his mother to make a fuss over him as she inevitably did, and for the tedium of a whole day – possibly two, from the way he was feeling – spent on the couch.

The first two things came to pass. The third did not.

"Remus, dear, look who's here to see you," said Katherine Lupin that afternoon, ushering the guest into the living room.

Remus sat up straight as he saw a familiar head topped with brown bushy hair. "Danger?"

"No one else." She smiled at him. "I'm afraid I'm a horrible sneaky person – I wrote Sirius to get your address. I hope you don't mind."

"I'm surprised Sirius knows my address," said Remus, knowing that he was babbling, but trying frantically to think of a way to account for his obvious injuries. "You don't need to know it for owl post, and he's never been here."

She shrugged. "The oddest things stick in one's head. Besides, if he didn't know it, I would have gone to James or Peter. One of them would have been bound to know where you lived. Or I could have made inquiries through the school. But I didn't have to, and here I am."

Remus couldn't think of anything to say.

"If you don't want me here, I'll go," Danger added.

"Nonsense, of course he wants you here," said his mother warmly. "I'll just go get you two something to eat, then." She left the room, and Danger sat down in a chair a short distance from the couch.

"So," she said after a short silence. "Read any good books lately?"

Remus was about to respond seriously to this when he noticed the playful look in her eyes. "Not at all," he answered instead. "Nothing but a rubbish fantasy series by some bloke named Token or something like that. Elves and dwarves and all that nonsense. Though there was one character who made me think a bit of Dumbledore."

"Gandalf." Danger nodded somberly. "Yes, he's obviously a take-off of Dumbledore. Token must have been a wizard. Or a Squib."

* * *

Katherine Lupin, in her kitchen, smiled to hear her son laughing. 

She lifted one of the glasses she was preparing for them in a silent toast. _To my boy, and his future. _

_May he someday realize that what he is need not dictate all of what he does._

* * *

(A/N: Yes, I'm moving along pretty well here. This is going to be so very fluffy that I'm not going to spend much time on it – though there will be a little bit of sadness in the middle, possibly even some slight angst – but it will all come out happily, of course. And I might interpost this with LwoD, or I might just get it done before I return to the story... 

I'm thinking this is how it will go. One AU of an AU for every year of LwoD. That sound OK to everyone? And I'll try not to leave LwoD on a terrible cliffie when I post my other fics. Huggles to all!

Oh, and for the record... my name is Anne Walsh.)


	3. A Brief Interlude

From: whydoyou21 (at) yahoo (dot) com

To: serpentsrule (at) hogwarts (dot) edu

Subject: Change of plans

Alex,

I made a mistake in calculations – March of '75 isn't going to work right. We're going to have to delay until July of '77. If you insist on doing something in March of '75, I do have a suggestion...

Please don't argue with me about this; I'm having a really bad week. Don't even ask what I did yesterday.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Anne

* * *

From: serpentsrule (at) hogwarts (dot) edu 

To: whydoyou21 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Subject: Re: Change of plans

Anne,

July of '77 is fine. Would I be correct in assuming your suggestion for March of '75 involves a Hogsmeade weekend and some, er, "alone time"?

As per your wishes, I won't ask what you did yesterday. However, I will congratulate you on it. Simultaneously locking your keys in your car and draining your battery takes some real talent – I'm impressed.

Hope this is soon enough,

Alex

* * *

From: whydoyou21 (at) yahoo (dot) com 

To: serpentsrule (at) hogwarts (dot) edu

Subject: Change of plans

Alex,

You're correct about the suggestion.

Anne

P.S. "Firetruck" you.

* * *

From: serpentsrule (at) hogwarts (dot) edu 

To: whydoyou21 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Subject: Re: Change of plans

Anne,

I'll do that, then.

Alex

P.S. You wish.

* * *

(A/N: There may be some delays with updates... minor ones only, though... slight RL upheavals. Hugs! And before you ask, yes, I really did. 


	4. Chapter 2: The End of the Beginning

Chapter 2: The End of the Beginning

Remus had a little trouble recognizing Sirius when his friend flagged him down on platform nine and three-quarters that September 1.

"Shiny," he said finally, looking at Sirius' head. "Did you do it yourself?"

Sirius nodded, grinning. "My mother threw a _fit_," he said in satisfaction as they boarded the train. "Screeching on about how if I didn't straighten up and start acting more like a Black she'd throw me out of the house. I told her I'd run away and save her the trouble."

"Where are you planning on going?"

"Prongs' place. You know his parents love me."

"The more fools, they," said Remus under his breath.

"So, how was your summer, Moony?" Sirius opened the door of an empty compartment. "Anything... going on?" His expression indicated the answer he expected.

Remus looked at him for one moment in confusion, then groaned as he recalled where Danger had obtained his address. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Padfoot. She came to say hello to me a couple of times. We talked."

"Is that what they're calling it these days? Talking?"

"My mother was there the whole time."

Sirius recoiled in mock horror. "You... in front of your mother? I always knew your family was tolerant, but this is a little more than I expected!"

Remus pulled his wand, threw two or three hexes that he didn't expect to land, then carefully sneaked in the one he did want to use, and smiled smugly as it took effect. "That did it," he said, blocking Sirius' last curse and putting his wand away again.

"Did what? What did you do to me? What did he do to me?" Sirius demanded of James, who had just arrived in their compartment. "Do I look different to you?"

"Well, the last time I saw you, you had hair."

"No, I did that myself. It's something else."

James studied Sirius' face, then snapped his fingers. "Got it. Unibrow."

"Uni-what?"

James walked over to Sirius, picked up his hand, and guided it to the place above his nose where his eyebrows now met in a thick, unbroken line of hair, which closely resembled a large caterpillar. "Unibrow."

"Oh." Using the glass in the window on the compartment door as a mirror, Sirius repaired the damage to his looks. "That was mean," he said reproachfully to the book behind which Remus was now ensconced. "I might not have noticed until we got to the castle. And then Freeman would have laughed at me."

"How would that be different from what she usually does?" inquired James.

"This time she'd have a reason."

Peter slid the compartment door open. Sirius looked up and stared. "He got you too!"

"Who got me? What's wrong?" Peter looked behind him fearfully.

"You didn't insult Remus or anything, did you, Wormtail?"

"Remus? I haven't even seen him yet – oh, hi, Moony. Did I insult you?"

"No, of course not," said Remus, lowering his book. "What's wrong, Sirius?"

"But – he's got one." Sirius sounded confused. "He's got one of those things. Right over his nose."

"One of what things?" Peter's hand flew to his face.

"It's all right, Wormtail," said James. "Padfoot, he's always had that. It's natural."

"It is?"

"Yes. It is. His eyebrows just grow that way."

"Oh." Sirius pondered this. "How was your summer, Wormtail?"

"Oh, it was great." Peter came in and sat down next to Remus. "I built three new models – a three-masted ship, a Muggle airplane, and an old-fashioned car."

"That's nice," said James in a bored tone of voice. "Moony, how about you?"

"He's got himself a girlfriend – finally," said Sirius before Remus could answer.

"Oh, the Granger girl?"

"That's the one. She was over at his house during the summer."

"How many times?"

"He says just once or twice."

"Would either of you mind if _I_ told you about my summer?" asked Remus as politely as he could.

James and Sirius stopped, and their heads turned simultaneously to Remus, as if they hadn't realized he was there. "Er, go ahead," said James after a moment. "Sorry."

Remus carefully kept his amusement from showing on his face. "And if you don't listen to me from now on, I can give you detention for it."

"Detention?" Sirius frowned. "Moony, no way..."

Remus pulled his new prefect badge from his pocket.

"Better you than me," said James decisively. "Don't you have to be up front or something?"

"Not until we actually leave." Remus checked his watch. "Which is any minute now. I'll be back later."

The other boys waved as he left.

* * *

As Remus had suspected, James and Sirius paid about the same amount of attention to him as a prefect that they did to every other prefect in the school. 

Which was none at all.

But that wasn't quite true, Remus realized as October turned to November. James was paying some attention. Just enough to be jealous. For the first time in his life, James Potter wanted a position of authority on something other than a Quidditch team.

The reason was simple. Lily Evans was the other Gryffindor prefect from their year.

"It is not bloody fair," whined James in the common room one night. He'd waited up for Remus to get back from a prefects' meeting – Sirius and Peter had already gone to bed. "You don't even like her, and you get to see her all the time. But me, she avoids like I've got Snivellus' looks and Peeves' personality. It's not fair."

Remus refrained from pointing out that James had, if not exactly Peeves' personality, something highly similar.

"And I keep running into the Granger girl," James continued with his litany of complaint. "And I don't even like her. Well, not _like_ like her. She's nice enough, I suppose. If your tastes run that way."

"What way would that be?" Remus asked mildly.

"Well, for a bookish little snip of a thing with no real power behind her wandwork and as far as I can tell, hardly any guts at all – I mean, I have no idea what she's doing in Gryffindor, she seems more the Ravenclaw type to me..."

"I bow to your almighty wisdom, O Sorting Hat," retorted Remus sarcastically. "Shall I hang you on your hook in Dumbledore's office now?"

He fled up the stairs as James fired a Twitchy Ears Hex at him.

* * *

There was a full moon during Christmas holidays, and it was a bad one. 

_Well, not really bad,_ Remus acknowledged the next day, watching the usual sappy-sweet Christmas special to which the television was tuned with very little attention. _About normal. But bad in comparison. _

He'd started getting used to transformations with Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs present. His friends had shown up on his first full moon back at school, and to Remus' surprise and delight, he had some vague memories of the night. It seemed that the presence of the other animals not only calmed the wolf enough that it didn't attack itself, but also gave him a slightly more advanced mental capacity as the wolf. He was still thinking as a wolf, though, not as a human – that would be advanced magic indeed, to allow a werewolf to keep his or her human mind.

Remus' thoughts drifted into various ways that might happen – a spell, a potion – might the effects be salutary if a werewolf kept pets? But he couldn't seem to concentrate. He felt as if he was waiting for something. His eyes kept roaming from the screen, towards the door of the room, which led into the front hallway...

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" called his mother from the kitchen. Remus heard her footsteps, the sound of the door opening, and then –

"Why, hello, dear, how nice to see you!"

Remus sat up a little. _Who is it, Mum? Come on, say a name..._

"Happy Christmas, Mrs. Lupin," said a well-known voice. "Is Remus here?"

"Yes, of course – he's been a bit ill, but I'm sure he'll be delighted to see you. Come right in..."

_Damn it, she's going to notice, she can't help but notice, I look like I got into a fight with an entire zoo – I've got scratches all down my face, bite marks on my arms – she's going to say something, she's going to want to know what happened, and I have no idea what to tell her..._

"Happy Christmas, O high exalted prefect," said Danger's voice right beside him, startling him into a jump. "Knut for your thoughts."

Remus shook his head. "Not worth it."

"Oh, give it a try."

"All right." Remus accepted the small bronze coin. "I was just wondering what to say to you. I'm... not used to having girls over."

"That's why I'm here. To help you get used to it." Danger's tone lingered teasingly between joking and sincere. "And to help you get used to a few other things too. Like this. Happy Christmas." She laid a wrapped package in his lap.

"You shouldn't have," said Remus automatically.

_You really shouldn't have. _

_I haven't got anything to give you. _

"I know, but I wanted to. The look on your face when you open it will be worth every penny I spent." She grinned at him. "Go on, open it, you know you want to."

Remus hesitated one more moment, then returned her grin and tore into his gift.

He was sure, in some distant corner of his mind, that the look on his face was indeed priceless. But he didn't have time to waste on that now. Not with the treasure currently reposing in his hands.

"Hardcover," he breathed reverently. He opened it gently to the first page and was caught off guard by the little lettering in the top corner. _No way. _

"You do know this is a first edition?" he said incredulously.

Danger smiled indulgently. "First edition, first printing."

Remus stroked the spine, awestruck.

"Look inside the back cover," Danger prompted.

_There's more?_

"Not yet," he said aloud. "Not yet. Give me a minute."

_What more could there be?_

He found out. Pasted to the inside back cover of the book was a fold-out map of Middle Earth, in all its exquisite detail.

Remus tore his eyes away from it to look at Danger. "How did you know I wanted _The Silmarillion_?"

Danger was sitting on the floor, leaning one elbow on the couch next to Remus and propping her head on that hand. "Well, just because my friends despise your friends doesn't mean I do too. I'm actually on more or less good terms with James Potter and Sirius Black. And Peter has been coming to my study sessions lately. I'm thinking of seeing if I can make the sessions into an official club, by the way... but that's off topic. The three of them dropped enough hints that I was willing to get involved."

"Get involved?"

"It's a joint present. From the three of them and me. They were just going to go out and get you a plain old copy. Instead, I did the Muggle-world legwork to find this, and we split the cost four ways. They agreed, since I was the one who found it, not to mention the one closest to you, I should get to give it to you."

"Closest to me?"

"Geographically speaking," said Danger demurely.

But Remus wasn't sure that was what she'd meant. Or at least, not all of what she'd meant. Danger's words had a way of taking on double meanings without warning.

They spent the next half-hour talking about Tolkien, fantasy stories in general, and how funny it was that their lives seemed sometimes to have come from one of those novels. Danger got Remus to laugh by imitating the writer of a novel about them, if one had existed.

"A school? For witches and wizards? Oh, no, surely not! Witches and wizards learn their craft master to apprentice, in dark little rooms, or out on the moor by the light of the moon – not at a school, with classrooms and lessons and homework! And sports on broomsticks? Broomstick flying is for getting around, not for playing silly games!"

It was only after Danger had gone home that Remus recalled an oddity. Before she had come, he had felt as if he were waiting for something to happen. Now that she had come and gone, he no longer felt that way.

_Was I... expecting her?_

He shook his head. _I can't have been. There's no way I could have known she'd turn up today. _

_But it was nice._ He stroked the spine of _The Silmarillion_ where it lay beside him. _And not just for the gift. I enjoy her company. It's easy to talk to her._

* * *

Winter melted into spring, and in no time at all, it was March. Remus' 16th birthday fell on a Hogsmeade weekend; he and the other Marauders had plans all day in town, to the town's great detriment. 

Halfway through the afternoon, Danger turned up at the Three Broomsticks, sitting down at their table as if she had a perfect right to be there. "Many happy returns," she said, saluting Remus with her bottle of butterbeer.

"Thank you."

Peter stood up. "I have to go, er, mail a letter to my mum," he announced. "I'll be back later."

"Yeah, and we were planning to go to Zonko's, weren't we, Sirius?" asked James, giving Sirius something Remus had no trouble interpreting as a significant look.

"Zonko's? Now? Ouch!" Sirius rubbed his shin. "Yeah. Sure. See you later, Remus."

And just like that, the other three Marauders were gone.

Danger watched them go. "Do you get the impression they're trying to set us up?" she asked.

"Oh, no, not at all. They've only been telling me for three years I should get a girlfriend."

Danger chuckled. "Shall we go for a walk together so that you can tell them self-congratulatory and completely fictitious tales of your romantic prowess, then?"

Remus lost his composure entirely, howling with laughter.

Danger looked at him oddly. "What?"

"You have no shame at all, do you?" he managed to say.

"No, I suppose not." Danger took a swig of her butterbeer.

When she had finished the bottle and Remus had gotten himself more or less under control, they left the pub together, chatting.

"So you're an only child, then," said Remus as they walked up the road.

"Yes. But my mother always says it's still not too late. I know she'd love to have another child, but she had some trouble with me, and I think it affected her badly."

"I understand."

"You're an only too, aren't you?"

"Yes. My parents might have had more children if I'd never–"

"Never what?"

"Never been born," Remus invented quickly. "Because I was such a handful as a boy that my mother said one was enough!"

Danger laughed, and the moment was past. Remus exhaled a silent sigh of relief.

_Why do I keep doing this? It's like I forget she doesn't know, or like I feel I can trust her so much that I could tell her. _

_But no. It's not safe to tell anyone. I'm amazed it hasn't gotten out yet via Peter – I guess James' and Sirius' vows to kill him slowly and painfully if he told anyone sank in – I don't need another person who knows. I just don't. _

"Now there's an interesting building," said Danger, breaking into Remus' reverie. He looked up.

They had come to the Shrieking Shack.

"More or less new, from what I hear," she continued, apparently not noticing his expression, "and already heavily haunted – though apparently the ghosts there only whoop it up on certain nights. Have you heard anything about it?"

"No," said Remus quickly. "Not much. Only what you have."

_Get a hold of yourself, she's going to notice if you keep babbling this way,_ he told himself firmly.

But Danger only nodded, as if his answer had been what she was expecting, and leaned on the fence keeping people out of the grounds around the Shack, looking towards it.

_She looks like she's waiting for something..._

_Kiss her_, said a little voice in his head.

_What?_

_Kiss her. She wants you to kiss her. You know, her lips, your lips, maybe a little tongue..._

Remus shuddered.

_All right, no tongue. But lips. Think about it. Wouldn't that be nice? Go on, I know you want to do it. _

_But – how do you know she wants it?_ he argued with the voice.

_Look at the way she's standing. Close to you, but not too close, and she keeps looking at you... she wants you to kiss her. Trust me. I know. Go on, do it now. Call her name or something, she'll look at you, then you lean in and just do it._

Remus took a breath, then let it out again. It took him three tries before he managed to say, in something approaching a normal voice, "Danger?"

"Hmm?" She turned to face him.

Remus leaned in and just did it.

When he pulled back, the expression on Danger's face was part surprise and part something else Remus couldn't identify. He waited for her to say something.

"Do that again?"

He did, and this time he put his arms around her as well, and a moment later felt hers wrapping around him.

_I am kissing a girl. And she is kissing me back. And showing evidence of liking it. _

And now, belatedly, he recognized what he had seen in her face.

_Pleasure. Enjoyment. She liked it when I kissed her. She's liking it when I kiss her now. _

_I wonder if she'd like it if I – _

_NO!_

He pulled out of the clinch and turned away, breathing hard.

_I can't do this. I can't let myself do this. _

_This is the first step on a road I can't take. Not now. Not ever. _

"Did I do something wrong?"

Danger's voice called him back to the moment. She sounded, and looked as he turned back, startled, puzzled, and just a touch offended.

"No," said Remus, realizing as he spoke that she would never believe what he was going to say next. Even though it was the truth. "It's not you. It's me."

"You?" Brown brows lifted quizzically. "You didn't do anything I didn't want you to..." She frowned. "Are you gay?"

"G – no!" Of all the things she could have thought of to explain this, that was one Remus hadn't come up with himself. "No. I'm not. As far as I know. No."

"I didn't think so. Do you not like me, then?"

"No. I like you. But..."

"Not that way?"

Remus warred with himself, and finally sided with the lie as being easier on all parties concerned. "Yes. Not that way."

Danger nodded. "All right. Then we won't tell anyone about this, and we can both forget it ever happened."

"All right."

But it wasn't all right, and Remus knew it.

He had liked kissing Danger. He had liked it a lot. He wanted to do it again.

And he didn't dare to.

_The last thing I need is her falling in love with me. _

_Or me falling in love with her. _

And not even to himself could he admit that at least one of these occurrences had already taken place.

* * *

Remus closed his eyes for a moment, testing his memory of the passage he'd just read. He needed a good grade on his Transfiguration O.W.L., after all. 

_I need a good grade on all my O.W.L.s. Better yet, I need a miracle. What the hell is the chance of a werewolf actually becoming an Unspeakable? _

But Professor McGonagall hadn't squashed his hopes in his career advice session – in fact, she had said that he might even have a slightly better chance than a normal human, since he could double as a subject for study along with doing the studying himself...

_But I think she was probably joking. _

"I'm bored," Sirius complained. "Wish it was full moon."

"You might," said Remus darkly. "We've still got Transfiguration, if you're bored you could test me... here." He extended the book to Sirius.

Sirius waved it off. "I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."

"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," said James quietly. "Look who it is..."

Remus looked. _Oh, no._ Severus Snape was coming along the grass towards them.

_I'd better not get involved. They won't listen anyway, and Snape really does deserve what he gets..._

And so Remus buried himself in his book and pretended not to hear James and Sirius hexing Snape, pretended not to hear Lily defending Snape, pretended not to hear everything that went on.

But then something happened he couldn't ignore.

The book was yanked from his hands. He looked up just in time to see Aletha Freeman catch it, obviously having Summoned it. She was looking past him, at something behind him. He turned and gulped involuntarily.

Danger was standing behind him, wand out and an expression of fury on her face. The wand was pointing directly at James, who (Remus turned back around to see) was hopping up and down on one foot, face a mask of agony. Snape was slowly getting up, total humiliation and grim satisfaction warring for place on his face. Sirius and Peter were staring from Snape to James to Aletha to Danger, and Remus suddenly noticed that Aletha was also holding several wands – she must have disarmed the other Marauders before Danger cast her spell.

Danger put her wand away and glared down at Remus. "I thought you were better than them," she said harshly. "But you're not. You're worse."

She scrubbed her hand contemptuously across her lips before she turned and walked away.

* * *

(A/N: And I said this was going to be plotless... but I guess I'm addicted to plot... 

Back on track, everyone! I don't think there should be any more big hold-ups for a while, but I'll try to let you know if there are... so how did you like the substitution of the "big event" for March of '75? And I disclaim the few lines of dialogue in the last section which are quotes from OotP.)


	5. Chapter 3: The Beginning of the Middle

Chapter 3: The Beginning of the Middle

"Peter!"

Peter Pettigrew woke up with a jump. Someone was shaking him.

Blinking sleep out of his eyes, he saw Danger Granger leaning over him, looking concerned. "What happened?" she asked. "You look like something tried to eat you alive."

_Something did._ But he couldn't tell her that. "I... just hurt myself. Falling down the stairs."

"What stairs?"

"Those stairs." Peter pointed at the boys' staircase leading out of the Gryffindor common room.

"Oh. All right. Have you been to the hospital wing?"

"No, I was just going to sleep it off–"

"So I noticed. And how exactly were you going to sleep off all these scrapes and cuts?" Danger's voice had taken on the tone he recognized from the study sessions. It meant 'cut the bull and tell me what's really going on here'.

"I... heal fast. I'm used to it."

"Yes, I've noticed you and your friends tend to bang yourselves up quite a bit. At least they're smart enough to go to the hospital for it. Come on."

And before Peter could muster a protest, his wrist had been seized, and he was being dragged towards the portrait hole.

He managed to get a look at his watch as Danger towed him through the halls. His stomach had told him it was pretty late, but he hadn't known it was so close to noon.

_All right, I'll go to hospital, then I'll go get some lunch. I'm sure the others are waiting for me in the Great Hall. _

But he was wrong. Madam Pomfrey turned away from tending James to motion him to a vacant bed, next to the one where Sirius was sitting, already sporting one or two bandages and that look on his face that meant he'd had to drink a potion.

Around Madam Pomfrey, James jerked his head toward Danger, who was getting ready to leave, then flashed them a sign. Peter identified it, after a moment's thought, as _Stall._

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Moony hasn't woken up," answered Sirius, perhaps just a touch louder than he needed to, to reach the ears of Peter's departing escort, who froze in the act of walking out the door.

"Oh – is he going to be all right?" Even to himself, Peter sounded lame.

"We don't know," said James as Madam Pomfrey finished with him and came over to Peter. "This hasn't ever happened before."

That much Peter knew was true. Remus was usually tired and sore after his transformations, but he was almost always awake the next morning, though he didn't want to do much of anything. He might occasionally have a lie-in, but it was never this long. He was the original morning lark, and for him to stay asleep so late was a sign that something was very far wrong.

_Of course, we knew that already._

Peter swallowed hard, recalling his moment of absolute terror the night before, when the werewolf had pounced on him and snapped him up. Sirius and James had had to gang up on Remus to make him drop Peter, and it was a very good thing that they couldn't be infected with lycanthropy while they were in animal form, because otherwise all four of them would have been werewolves today. If Peter had even been alive.

_He's never been violent towards us before. We go hunting sometimes – well, he and Sirius go hunting, and James and I stay out of the way – but he never tries to hurt any of us. _

_I wonder what changed?_

* * *

After finishing with the Pettigrew boy, Poppy Pomfrey shooed all three of her ambulatory patients out of the hospital wing, promising that they could come back later in the afternoon. When they were all safely gone, she went around the screens to have another look at the poor Lupin boy. He wrung her heart as few of these young people did – doomed by an unlucky chance to spend his entire life half-ill, shunned by anyone who happened to find out his secret.

_Perhaps it would be better if he didn't wake up..._

She chided herself immediately for that thought. Young Lupin had three good friends at least – it was seldom that boys found an excuse to look in on a friend in hospital. She smiled to herself. Trust them to have to shove one another around first, though, so that they had an excuse to come.

She heard the quiet squeak of hinges that meant someone had just come in, and stepped out from behind the screen to see a third year girl, another Gryffindor, if she wasn't mistaken. Not someone she knew well – Granger, she thought the name was, but the girl had some kind of nickname...

"I was hoping I could see Remus," the girl said almost shyly. "I know he's not awake yet, but may I?"

_She can't possibly hurt him, so I don't see why not._ "Yes, very well. There won't be much point in talking to him, of course, but if you just want to sit with him a moment, that's quite all right."

The girl nodded and came down the ward, for a wonder walking as quietly as Poppy did herself. She sat down in the chair beside the bed, and Poppy slipped discreetly away, to give the girl at least the illusion of privacy.

_But I think I'll just make sure she doesn't try anything funny..._

She sat down quietly on the bed just the other side of the screen to listen.

"I hope you're all right," the girl said very quietly, apparently talking to Lupin. "I'd be sad if you weren't, you know. I don't hate you. I was mad the other day. I still think you should have done something. But I know how it is when your friends are doing things they shouldn't – you don't want to speak up, because they might get angry with you... but that was wrong of them, and I wish you'd done something about it. You're a prefect. You're supposed to do something about things like this."

A quiet, breathy laugh. "And I suppose I should have said all this that day, instead of just yelling at you and... doing what I did. I'm sorry for that. And I know you were lying when you said what you said at the Shrieking Shack." A sigh. "I just hope someday you'll be able to trust me."

Unable to conceal her curiosity, Poppy peered between screen and wall just in time to see the girl kiss her own fingertips, then brush them very gently against Lupin's cheek. "Get well soon," she murmured. "I miss you when you're not around."

Poppy was straightening a bed halfway down the ward when the girl emerged from behind the screens. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," she said, smiling at the nurse.

"You're welcome." Poppy saw her out and closed the door behind her.

"Madam Pomfrey?" called a hoarse voice from the other end of the room.

Poppy hurried down the ward, surprised. Lupin's eyes were open, and he had one hand raised to his cheek, his fingers touching the spot the girl's had caressed. "Was there... someone else here?" he asked, looking a bit confused.

"Yes, your friends were here, but they left," said Poppy, electing not to embarrass the poor boy by telling him that a girl, and one younger than himself, had been to look in on him. "Let's have a look at you, then."

* * *

Remus had always known that his emotions affected his transformation. It was one of the reasons he tried to stay as calm and happy as he could. When he was agitated, no matter the reason, so was the wolf, and an agitated wolf was more than usually violent, and less controllable. And for a werewolf, that was very bad indeed.

But he hadn't been able to avoid being agitated last night. Pacing the rooms of the Shrieking Shack, trying to ignore the pain in his knees and hips, waiting for the moon to rise, he hadn't been able to avoid going over and over the events of a certain afternoon. Hadn't been able to avoid seeing the contempt and anger on the face of a thirteen-year-old witch, hearing her call him worse than the others, seeing her wipe his kiss from her lips as if it defiled her.

And the worst of it was, she was right. Or at least not wrong. Sitting there, not getting involved, made him at the very best no better than his friends.

But if he had called them to task, they wouldn't have listened – and she couldn't understand the place they held in his life, Remus argued with himself. James and Sirius and Peter weren't just his friends, they were the keepers of his secret. He couldn't afford to anger them. The consequences could be worse than he could imagine.

But he still should have done something, his conscience niggled.

It was in this state of mind that the change overtook him. He fell into darkness, and discovered with a little shock that he liked it there. It was quiet, and peaceful, and in some ways even pleasant. Perhaps he'd stay. No one could find him in the dark. No one could hurt him there.

But someone had come after him. Someone's voice, and someone's touch, had called him back to the light. He owed whoever that was a great deal, Remus thought.

There was only one problem.

He didn't know who it had been.

After lunch, while he was still thinking about this, the other Marauders came to see him.

"Glad to see you awake, Moony," said James, dropping down on the end of his bed.

"Thanks – what happened to you?" James had a bandaged cheek and was favoring one leg.

"So you don't remember," said Sirius, sitting in the chair beside his bed and rubbing his right arm. "Thought you might not. _You_ happened to us."

"Me? But–" Remus stopped, in case Madam Pomfrey was near enough to hear. She knew, of course, but she didn't know the other Marauders knew.

"It's clear," said Peter from where he was standing at the end of the screen.

Remus lowered his voice anyway. "But I never attack you in animal form!"

"Tell that to Wormtail," said James. "You damn near ate him."

Remus stared at the smaller boy, aghast. "Good God – I'm so sorry, Peter, I didn't mean to."

Peter shrugged. "I know. It's all right."

"We both had to hit you at once to make you drop him," said Sirius. "And then you went after us. What had you worked up last night? You only ever act like that when you're upset about something."

Not for the first time, Remus reflected on how annoying it was to have best friends who knew practically everything about him. "Just worried about how I did on my O.W.L.s."

"Oh, you passed," said James with a roll of his eyes. "You only studied six hours a day for eight weeks."

_But they don't know everything yet. _

_They don't notice when I lie. _

Remus wasn't sure whether to be grateful or unhappy about this. Grateful, because it made friendship a lot easier to maintain with a few little white lies here and there. Unhappy, because it meant they didn't really care about him enough to see if he was lying or not...

_You're taking it wrong again. It's not that they don't care – maybe they just choose not to see. _

_Or maybe they're just typical boys. Thick as a dragon's hide when it comes to anything emotional. _

And with this highly likely hypothesis Remus had to be content.

* * *

"You must come to visit this summer," Lily Evans told Aletha Freeman and Danger Granger over the end-of-term feast. "I'll write to you – Danger, I don't think I have your address."

"Number seventeen Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey – I'll write it down for you." Danger pitched her voice subtly louder than she needed to. "Thanks for the invitation, Lily. It's so often that people make good friends at school, but don't carry it over into the summer."

_I hope that works the way I want it to..._

* * *

The day before the first full moon of the summer, Remus was in his bedroom, trying without much success to get interested in a book, when he heard the doorbell ring.

"I'll get it," called his father's voice, and there was the sound of the door opening, then a low-voiced colloquy that Remus couldn't catch.

_Probably a delivery or something._ Remus returned to his semi-reading.

Then he heard his hinges squeak ever so slightly.

He looked up. His door had been pulled closed, but not latched. Now it had drifted open. But there was no one in the hallway, or at least no one he could see...

_Huh._ Remus got up and went to the door, sticking his head out into the hall. There was no one there, in either direction.

_Must have been a draft._ He went back to his bed and sat down.

"What are you reading?" asked a voice from behind him.

Remus yelped. "Where did you come from?" he demanded, whirling around.

Peter grinned. "The hall."

"Thank you, Captain Literal."

"You're welcome." Peter removed the book from Remus' lax hands and threw it across the room.

"Yow!" said another voice as the book impacted with apparently empty air. With a ripple of silvery fabric, James and Sirius materialized in one corner of the room, James rubbing his head.

Remus stared around the room at his friends, feeling a smile start on his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Mooching," said Sirius, dropping into the big stuffed chair Remus loved to curl up in. "I'm getting good at it, living at Prongs' place now."

"He gets the better bedroom," said James conspiratorially.

"So we decided to drop in and stay a couple of nights," finished Sirius.

"Do your parents know that we know?" inquired James.

"Not yet – let me go rectify that, or they'll be trying to kick you out – wait here, just don't break anything." Remus left his bedroom, thoughts in happy confusion.

_They came. They know I hate transforming without them, so they came. _

_I wonder what made them think of it?_

* * *

To no one's surprise, Aletha Freeman had a badge on her robes when the Marauders saw her on platform nine and three-quarters that fall. "Follows the rules when everyone's watching," groused Sirius. "But I _know_ she put Barnaby's Boil Inducer on my broom last spring – I just can't prove it!"

"And you never will," said Freeman from behind him, making him jump. "Because if you ever try to pin that on me, I'll start reminding people of who exactly it was that disarmed you without a fight in June."

"I wasn't expecting it!" protested Sirius.

"Yes, and I'm sure Dark wizards always give you fair warning before they start cursing you." Freeman rolled her eyes. "Wants to be an Auror, and he can't even keep his wand in his hand. The wizarding world can certainly sleep safe at night with him guarding our doors."

Sirius appeared lost for words as Freeman walked away, somehow managing to inject sarcasm even into her movements.

"She has a point, you know, Padfoot," said James.

"Oh, you're one to talk. Hexed by a third year."

Remus and Peter shared a weary glance as the quarrel continued.

* * *

Overall, Remus thought, sixth year was one of his best at Hogwarts. His transformations were now something to look forward to rather than dread; he had begun keeping a list of interesting things they'd found, but it was getting rather long. James had the idea, in October, of making the list into something visual rather than verbal, and Sirius came up with a map.

"But maps don't work at Hogwarts," said Peter in confusion. "The castle's always changing. Remember when the hospital wing was on the sixth floor?"

"We'd have to charm it so it stayed current," said James. "Wonder if we could..."

Working together, they could. By Christmas, they had a map of the castle which could be depended upon to show the correct location of all the rooms, all the time.

"Now if we could only see Filch coming on it," said Sirius, lying in front of the fire at number seventeen, Oxman Road, on Christmas Eve morning. He and the other two Marauders had come to visit Remus, repeating their performances of the summer.

"Filch _and _Mrs. Norris," said James.

"And Peeves." Peter shivered. Peeves had nearly crushed him by toppling a suit of armor onto him three days before holidays began.

"Why not all the teachers?" asked Remus sarcastically from the couch. "And all the students too? And anyone who just wanders onto the grounds?"

"Yeah, why not?" Sirius sat up. "I bet we could do it."

"Are you crazy, Padfoot? Do you know how much work that would be?"

"Come on, Prongs, we can at least try. Imagine it – a map that shows us everyone, everywhere, in Hogwarts..."

And, to Remus' surprise, they could do it. _He_ could do it. The magical map took form under his wand like no one else's. James and Sirius ended up letting him do all the final work, including the especially tricky spell to ensure that the map wouldn't be fooled by things like Invisibility Cloaks (James' idea) or Animagus transformations (Sirius').

"Why don't you tell it not to let itself be fooled by anything?" suggested Peter.

"Not a bad idea," said Remus thoughtfully. "If I can work it..."

He could. The Marauder's Map was christened at Easter, and had its trial run after the holidays, at which time the Marauders toilet-papered the Slytherin common room and got away without being caught.

If his perfect year was a soup, thought Remus, then the overall pleasantness of not having any kind of important exam was the broth. Full moon nights were the chunks of meat, solid and hearty pieces of enjoyment which had once been bloody and disgusting. The Gryffindor Quidditch team's victories were the vegetables, since they were a little hard to come by but sweet once you got them. The classes were the noodles, dry at first, but wonderfully filling. Overall, it was a delicious mixture.

The only fly in the soup was a certain fourth year witch.

True to her word, Danger was pretending their kiss at the Shrieking Shack had never happened. She was being quietly polite to him, and to all the Marauders, but no more than that. In his more controlled moments, Remus knew this was for the best. He couldn't possibly offer her what she deserved – a good relationship, leading eventually to a loving marriage, a stable home, children. He even went out of his way to introduce her to a few of the nicer boys in her own year, and smiled indulgently when she started to be seen often with Samuel Bevington, a handsome Ravenclaw fifth year.

But late at night, when the other boys were sleeping, he admitted in his mind that he would have liked nothing better than to punch Bevington in the face, for daring to like Danger. He would have loved to claim Danger for his own, to put his mark on her, to warn the world away...

_You see,_ he told himself, _you don't love her. You want to possess her. Like a thing. That's not love, that's just... wrong. _

_But it's not like that,_ protested the other side of his mind. _I want her to claim me too. And mark me, and warn other girls away from me. _

_As if that's a big problem,_ laughed the first part of him. _You're just fixated on her because no other girl ever showed even a spark of interest in you. _

He couldn't deny that.

_So let Bevington have her, and you go on with your life. Maybe send her a Christmas card every now and again. She deserves a lot better than you, and you know it. If you really love her, you'll let her go. _

Remus turned over in bed, ignoring the spot which appeared on his pillowcase. _All right. You win. I'll let her go. _

It was the right thing to do, he knew. The decent thing. The proper thing.

And he had never in his life wanted more desperately to be wrong, indecent, and improper.

* * *

(A/N: Yes, this is turning out to be a bit more plot-laden than I thought. But it seems you folks like that. Anyone want more of anything? Or less? Do let me know – I try to satisfy all comers! More romance coming up soon – sooner than in LwD! And you'll see why – quite possibly next chapter! Hugs!) 


	6. Chapter 4: The Middle of the Middle

Chapter 4: The Middle of the Middle

"Well, this has been one hell of a year," said James, lying on his bed after the end-of-term feast. "And you know what the best part is?"

"What?" asked the other three Marauders in unison.

"I don't think Evans hates me any more."

"Bully for you," said Sirius moodily. "Freeman still thinks I'm a flobberworm with legs."

"How can you tell, Prongs?" asked Remus, ignoring this.

"Just little things. She doesn't scowl every time she looks at me. And she's stopped walking out of any room I walk into." James sighed dreamily. "Not that I don't love to watch her walk, mind you. Those legs..."

"Better not let her hear you saying that," said Sirius. "Girls tend to take that stuff the wrong way."

"Say, Wormtail, how come we never hear you talking about girls?" James sat up to look over at Peter. "All the rest of us have someone we fancy–"

"Speak for yourself," said Remus, folding robes into his trunk.

"Even if Moony won't admit it," James continued without a pause. "But you've never said word one about a girl. Do you fancy anyone?"

Peter shook his head. "Not really," he said. "And it wouldn't matter even if I did. No girl would want me."

James threw a pillow at him. "Knock that off. How do you know no girl would want you?"

"Because Margie told me so."

"Who's Margie?" asked Sirius.

"A girl I used to know in my neighborhood at home. A Muggle. She was older than me, and she would always play with me, and pick on me too."

Remus looked up from his packing. "Why didn't you play with someone else?"

"Because as long as I was with her, no one else picked on me." Peter was warming up to his topic. "And I didn't really mind what she would do. It was kind of nice, actually. She didn't mean half the stuff she said. We would always play house. She would be the mum, and I was the dog."

"The dog?" James guffawed. "Not the baby? The dog?"

"She didn't want babies," Peter explained in a tone of perfect reason. "She said they were too much trouble. She wanted something that would listen to her, no matter how old it got."

"So you were her dog." Sirius chuckled. "Do you still see her sometimes?"

"In the summers, sometimes."

"And that reminds me," said James. "Are you sure you can't come?"

Peter nodded regretfully. "Mum says I'm not to be a burden. And that means no visiting."

"You wouldn't be a burden – my parents _want_ you all to come – maybe you could try and talk her around?"

"You don't know my mum." Peter sounded certain. "Once she makes up her mind, she never changes it."

James sighed. "All right. I suppose I'll survive with just these two prats."

Sirius and Remus looked at each other, then simultaneously dived at James.

* * *

Remus' parents had come to King's Cross just to see him, since he'd be going home with James. He hugged them both goodbye outside the station. "Sure you won't miss me too much?" he teased. 

"Are you crazy?" Katherine Lupin kissed her son. "You have no idea how much your father and I have wanted this vacation. Not that we don't love you, mind, but you can always have too much of a good thing."

"Oh, I don't know," said John Lupin lazily, putting an arm around his wife's waist. "I've had an awful lot of you over the years, and I'm not tired of you yet."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Katherine laughed. "It's Remus who has to go. Goodbye, love, we'll see you in August. Behave yourself, if that's possible."

"Yes, Mum, I will. Goodbye, Dad, have a good time." Remus waved as his parents got back into their car and drove away.

"Come on," said James, steering Remus away with a hand under his arm. "Time to get the summer of fun started."

* * *

It was fun. The Potters had an estate in the countryside, with fields, woods, and a lake – sheer heaven for three sixteen-year-old boys. Remus couldn't ever remember going to bed so tired, or so happy. 

Full moon fell in the middle of the month. James' parents had accepted Remus' condition philosophically, and arranged for him to have a safe room in the house. Of course, they couldn't know that after they'd gone to bed, Prongs and Padfoot snuck downstairs to let him out, exactly as they had at his house over summer and Christmas holidays. James' father did marvel, the next morning, at the claw marks on one of the trees outside the kitchen window.

They owled Peter every few days, and he wrote back sporadically, telling them bits and pieces of news about himself and his summer. James spent hours agonizing over whether or not he should write Lily Evans a letter, and always ended up hurling all his attempts into the fireplace. Sirius made plans to get Aletha Freeman to stop hating him, all of which were doomed to failure, since most of them were missing the essential ingredients of losing a bit of his ego and being nicer to her, and none of them had the two in combination.

And Remus thought quite a bit about Gertrude Granger, about what she might be doing to pass the time in the long, lazy eight weeks of holiday. Reading with her father, perhaps, or gardening with her mother, or writing letters to Samuel Bevington...

But every time he got to this point in his thought process, he had to stop and calm himself down, because a wild, animal rage rose in him at the mere thought of Danger writing letters to another boy.

_Why shouldn't she write letters to him? He is her boyfriend, after all. She's nothing to me, and never will be. Just another girl, a friend if she cares to be. That's all._

_Bevington's a good match for her. He's smart – McGonagall says he's one of the best she's ever taught – and he's always polite. She'll like that. _

_But he doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. I don't know if I've ever seen him laugh. And he's a bit full of himself..._

He pulled himself firmly off the topic. _I have no right to criticize Samuel Bevington. Danger likes him, and that's what counts. Case closed, end of story, full stop. _

This particular conversation with himself took place on 28 July. Remus had reason to remember it in later years.

"Moony, where did your parents go again?" asked James over breakfast on 29 July.

"I can never remember the name of the place, why?"

"There's been a fire at one of these Muggle towns." James handed Remus the _Daily Prophet._ "They're reporting it because there was a wizard there. And it says..."

Remus was already skimming the article.

_... sources say that although the wizard, who was not identified, escaped the blaze safely, he was unable to save his Muggle wife from the flames..._

Time seemed to slow, even to stop. In the few seconds it took the newspaper to fall to the floor, Remus had time to think several leisurely thoughts.

_There's lots of wizard-Muggle marriages. Lots of vacation towns. Lots of vacationers. Nothing says this has to be my mum and dad. _

_Dad would never have left Mum. He loves her too much. He would have stayed and died with her, not saved himself and let her die. _

_It's not possible. _

That was the thought in his mind as the _Daily Prophet_ landed on his feet.

_It's not possible. _

_It can't be my parents. It just can't. _

"Moony?"

Remus blinked and looked up. James, Sirius, and Peter were all looking at him oddly. _When did they get here,_ he wondered, recalling that a moment before, James had been alone.

"You've had an owl," said Sirius in an odd tone for him. It sounded almost... gentle. "Here." He held out a slip of parchment.

Remus took it. Four words were scrawled on it in his father's handwriting.

_Come home right away._

Nothing else, no word of explanation, and suddenly Remus felt very cold.

_Mum._

Peter packed a bag for him, Sirius walked him to the Floo, James went to tell his parents what was happening. Remus' mind was caught on one idea. His mother – his laughing, sweet, generous mother – might be dead.

He barely felt the motion of the Floo, which he ordinarily disliked intensely. It seemed like only an instant, and at the same time a hundred years, before he fell out of the fireplace at number seventeen, Oxman Road.

His father was sitting on the couch. He looked worn and weary and a hundred years old. Remus could barely bring himself to speak.

"Mum?"

John Lupin looked up at his son.

"She's bad, cub," he said hoarsely. It had been his nickname for Remus ever since the bite. "She's in a bad way."

"But – she's not dead." Everything hinged on that.

"No. She's not dead."

Remus' world, which had been tilted ninety degrees, seemed to right itself, and the awful feeling of cold in his chest went away. "What happened?"

"Have you seen the _Prophet_?"

Remus nodded.

"It's more or less right. Hotel caught fire. Smoke detectors not working. I woke up almost too late. She'd already breathed smoke. I had to carry her out. She was badly burned." He stopped to cough, painfully. "Breathed some smoke myself. Healers say I'll be all right, though."

"Where is Mum?"

"She's at St. Mungo's. We can go to see her as soon as you want to."

"Can we go right away?"

"Yes, of course." John got to his feet.

"No, wait," said Remus, recalling something. "I want to let the others know. They're all worried. May I firecall?"

John drew his wand and lit the fireplace with a silent flick. Remus added Floo powder from the vase on the mantelpiece and called out "Terra Cotta Place!" A few moments later, he was explaining everything to James and promising to come back for the rest of his things as soon as he'd seen his mum.

Almost as soon as he'd pulled his head out of the fire, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," he said, forestalling his father.

He went down the hall, opened the door, and stared for a moment at the person on the front steps.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I saw the article in the paper and took a guess. Is it true?"

"No. She's not dead. But she was hurt – we're going to see her now."

"All right. I'll leave." Danger turned to go down the stairs.

"No," said Remus impulsively. "Don't. Come with us."

He could have kicked himself, as he heard his voice sounding half commanding and half plaintive, and the worst half of both. _And she hates being bossed and being begged for things equally... I've really done it now..._

Danger turned back, surprised. "You mean that?"

Remus nodded.

"Won't your dad mind?"

"He isn't thinking of anything except her." _And I don't want to be the third wheel, even if I am their son._

"If you're sure I won't be in the way."

"You could never be in the way," said Remus firmly, stepping aside and holding the door open.

_She must have come as soon as she saw – just on the off chance it was my family – _

He didn't understand the feeling he was having, as if his heart was filled with helium like a balloon, lighter than air. His mother had been badly hurt. He ought to be worried sick about her. And yet, here he was, happy.

The happiness lasted until he saw his mother.

Her face was covered with some kind of salve. Her hands – her sensitive violinist's hands – were mittened in white bandages. She was lying deathly still in the hospital bed, the only tinge of color about her the long brown hair spread out over her pillow.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The worst was the look on his father's face, as the man went to his knees by the bedside.

Remus had to turn away. His father had always been the strong point in his life, someone to turn to, someone who was simply always there – he might not be exciting or fast-moving, but he was dependable, as strong as a rock. And now the rock was crumbling.

He didn't realize he was crying until Danger silently handed him a handkerchief.

* * *

It was three long days and nights until Katherine Lupin opened her eyes again. Remus and his father spent every spare minute at the hospital. When they got home at night, their house was always clean and there was always something on the stove or in the oven, waiting for them. In the morning, there she was, on the doorstep, ready to come in and make them some breakfast, which they barely touched, before they left. 

She didn't try to make conversation, though she answered their occasional half-hearted attempts at politeness appropriately. She didn't seem to expect to be paid in any way. She was just doing what needed to be done.

"Fine girl," said his father unexpectedly on the morning of the fourth day of their vigil, as they sat side by side in his mother's room.

"Yes." Remus didn't trust himself to say any more.

"Is she seeing anyone?"

"Yes."

"Not you."

"No. Not me."

A long pause.

"Why not?"

Remus looked at his father, startled. "Dad – you know I can't have a girlfriend."

"Why not?" John repeated.

"Well – because–" Remus rubbed his left thigh, where he had received his first ever scar – though not his last – from the teeth of a werewolf. "You know."

"I know about that, yes. But what does that have to do with it?"

"What – it has everything to do with it! What could I ever offer a girl? 'Marry me, and I'll turn into a horrendous monster and try to kill you once a month – oh, and by the way, I'm going to have trouble holding down a job, so I hope you have one, and I can't ever give you children'?" Remus was amazed at the bitterness in his own voice. "Any sane girl would run in the opposite direction as soon as I told her."

"This one may not be entirely sane, then," John began, but broke off at a sound from the bed. Both wizards were on their feet – had Katherine just sighed?

A Healer came running in through the door, summoned by some signal Remus hadn't been aware of, and waved his wand carefully over Katherine's head. "She's coming around," he said, looking at the two wizards. "That's a good sign. Usually, if they're going to die, they don't bother waking up."

"Well... I can't... sleep... my life... away... can I?"

The voice was hoarse and breathy, hardly more than a whisper.

It was one of the most beautiful sounds Remus had ever heard.

* * *

Remus nearly fell out of the fireplace in his hurry. There were footsteps in the hall, someone was about to leave... 

"Danger, wait!" he called, running into the hallway. "Wait up!"

"What's wrong?" She turned, hand already on the door handle. "No, something's right, isn't it? Has she woken up?"

"How'd you know?"

"Your face. I've never seen you so happy." Danger smiled. "I'm happy for you. Please give her my best."

"Give it to her yourself – she wants to see you."

"What? Now?"

"Do you have to be somewhere?"

"Well, no, but..."

Remus wasn't listening to any buts. As soon as the "no" had left Danger's lips, he was dragging her back along the hall, through the Floo to St. Mungo's, up to the appropriate floor, and into his mother's room (she'd been given a private one because her injuries were so severe). "Here she is, Mum," he announced.

Katherine was sitting up in bed, holding her husband's hand, but turned away from him to smile at Danger, though the motion seemed to cause her newly healed face pain. "I wanted to say... thank you," she said huskily to the girl. "For... taking care of my menfolk. They are... rather hopeless by themselves, aren't they?"

"Oh, only a little," answered Danger easily. "I had to stop this one from trying to cook with grease from the garage." She waved at Remus. "That was when I decided it would be easier just to take care of them myself than to bail them out of every little disaster they created."

Katherine laughed, and the two women began to swap stories about taking care of the poor helpless men. Remus judged it was time to leave.

On his way up to the hospital tearoom, he spotted a familiar face.

"Letha! Letha Freeman!"

"Remus?" Aletha turned around. "Remus! It is you! What are you doing here – you're not ill, are you?"

"No, it's my mum – she was caught in a fire, burned badly, but she's going to be all right – what about you?"

Aletha smiled sadly. "It's the summer of the mums, it seems. Mine's ill."

"But – I thought you were Muggleborn."

"I am. But there's no Muggle treatment for what Mum has."

"Oh, is it bad?"

"I'm afraid so." Aletha's hands were fisted, she was clearly fighting tears. "She has cancer, Remus. She's going to die. And there's nothing anyone can do – I saw the look on the Healer's face, they haven't got anything to help her, I know it..."

Remus pulled her to him and let her cry on his shoulder. It was a bit awkward, since they were about the same height – not like Danger, who fit so neatly against him, being as small as she was...

_Some friend you are,_ he scolded himself. _Letha needs you, stop thinking about Danger. _

_But on the other hand..._

"Wait here," he said when Aletha's first bout of tears was over. He hurried back down to his mother's room and explained the situation to his parents and Danger, who was out of the room and heading up the stairs in an instant.

Then he went to the public fireplaces, to make an important call.

* * *

Aletha's second crying jag was getting worse, not better, and she knew it. She was going to be a complete and total wreck in a public place, in the place where she had hoped to work someday, and she couldn't do anything about it, and neither could Danger, and Remus had left... 

Strong, warm hands were on her shoulders, someone was turning her around, and then she was leaning against someone comfortingly larger than herself, and sobbing into his shoulder – it had to be a him, from the size and the shape and the smell. Not an unpleasant smell, mind, but it wasn't a woman's smell – only men ever smelled quite like that...

_And why am I noticing that so very particularly?_

"I'm sorry," said a quiet voice close to her ear. "I came as soon as I heard – how bad is it?"

"Very bad." Aletha sniffled. She ought to know that voice, but her mind wasn't working correctly. "It's invasive, and it's already spread to a few places it shouldn't – she doesn't have long, unless they can do something about it here, and I don't think they can..."

"Oh, you never know," said another voice. This one belonged to a woman, and was brisk without being unfriendly. Aletha rubbed her eyes clear and turned to see a young brown-haired woman in a Healer's uniform extending her hand. "Andromeda Tonks," she said. "I'm this one's cousin." She pointed to the person who was holding Aletha in his arms.

Aletha's mind, which had been stalled for a while, suddenly began to work again with a vengeance, and she realized exactly who "this one" was. And why she felt she ought to know his voice.

She pulled away from Sirius Black, straightened her robes, and shook Andromeda's hand all at the same time. "Nice to meet you," she said, trying to ignore the stupid grin on Sirius' face, which was actually rather endearing, if you looked at it the right way...

_Stop that._

"Do you really think they can – you can – do something for my mum?" she asked instead.

Andromeda nodded. "There have been some wonderful advancements made in treatments for Muggles – we've actually wiped out cancer in the wizarding population, if you can believe it, but the potions we use for that are toxic to Muggles and Squibs, so we have to keep experimenting – but yes, I think we can certainly help her, if not cure her entirely."

They were walking down the hall now, away from Sirius, who was looking dejected – Aletha glanced back over her shoulder to see – and all at once, she made up her mind about something.

"Excuse me a moment," she said to Andromeda, and walked quickly back to Sirius.

"Would you like to meet my mum?" she asked, looking him in the face.

Sirius looked surprised, but recovered. "Yes. I'd like that very much."

"Come on, then." Aletha led him down the hall. "And thank you."

"Any time," said Sirius lightly.

"I'll remember that."

"I hope you do."

* * *

(A/N: Scared you all, didn't I? I told you this would be a fluffy little thing – and that means making just about everything that went wrong in the LwD universe come out right instead... like Valentina Jett, I'm a sucker for happy endings... and for updating far, far too often... but please don't forget to review anyway! Oh yes, how do you like my chapter titles for this? Funny? Annoying?) 


	7. Note from Alex

* * *

To: (undisclosed recipients)

From: serpentsrule (at) hogwarts (dot) edu

Subject: Tonight's update

Hi, everyone.

Yeah, so Anne IMed me this evening and told me she was going to dinner at her boss's house, and then after that going to play Frisbee with her co-workers, so she wouldn't have time to write another chapter of this story tonight. And she stuck me with telling you.

Never make friends with an author. They give you all the hardest jobs.

Anyway, while I've got your attention, I'd just like to apologize for that little boo-boo last chapter. That was my fault – I'm beta-reading for Anne while SarahtheBardess' computer is in the shop, and I totally missed the part where she didn't put in the explanation about Sirius firecalling Peter when he and James saw the thing in the paper. (Well, I suppose it's Anne's fault really, but don't tell her I told you that. She's, shall we say, a little touchy about making mistakes.)

Anyway, she's got some great plans for the rest of this story. Seventh year will have one or two interesting incidents, and the big conclusion of the first plot – and then a whole new plot for post-Hogwarts! So this won't be quite as short as she thought it would be – probably be about the same length as Maybe – but it will still be over fairly quickly. So we'll be back on the LwoD track soon.

And no, she hasn't abandoned Roman a Clef. She's just horribly lazy about typing it up. (Don't tell her I told you that either.)

So anyway. That's about all from this end of existence. And this had better not count as an author's note, because it's not – I'm not the author around here, am I? But it might be fun if I were... hmm, anyone got suggestions for a pen name?

Cheers,

Alex

_Illegitimi non carborundum

* * *

_


	8. Chapter 5: The End of the Middle

Chapter 5: The End of the Middle

Remus was a bit surprised, when he opened his Hogwarts letter (_my last ever Hogwarts letter,_ he thought sentimentally), to find a note from Dumbledore, asking him to come to the Headmaster's office as soon as he arrived at school.

_Don't we usually wait until the school year actually starts to get in trouble?_

He was not surprised to find that he had not been named Head Boy. Making him prefect had been going out on enough of a limb. But he was surprised at who was named.

So were all his friends.

"You're what?" asked Sirius, backing away from James as if he might be contaminated. "How'd that happen?"

"I don't know," said James, staring down at the badge in his hand. "I'm not even a prefect..."

"You're a leader," said Remus. "Dumbledore knows that. I think he's worried that the school might be attacked, and he's going to need battle leaders in those positions."

"Positions?" asked Peter.

"Head Boy and Girl." The four of them were at James' house – Peter's mother had relented enough to allow him the occasional day trip, as long as he behaved.

"Do you know who the Head Girl is, then?" asked Sirius.

Remus smirked. "I have a pretty good idea... and if I'm right, it might just reconcile Prongs to his fate."

* * *

Remus was right, as he discovered on platform nine and three-quarters. Lily Evans was already there when he and the other Marauders arrived, directing traffic, the Head Girl badge gleaming on her black robes.

"Evans," said James, walking up to her and holding out his hand.

She took it and shook it in a business-like way. "Potter."

Sirius frowned. "That doesn't look good."

"Civil is a start," said Remus. "Let's find seats."

A loud whistle attracted their attention. Aletha Freeman was waving at them from the train. "Come on in," she called. "Got a compartment saved."

Sirius needed no second urging. Peter followed him, and Remus brought up the rear, musing on the summer just past.

His mother had made a full recovery, as would Aletha's – the Healers had been able to halt the spread of Teresa Freeman's cancer, and Muggle drugs were taking care of what was already there. Mrs. Freeman had lost some weight and her hair, but was otherwise doing fine.

The cancer and its treatment had another side effect as well, but this one wasn't on the patient. Aletha had introduced Sirius to her mother and father, and the first impressions had been favorable on both sides. Sirius apologized for not being able to reciprocate, but Aletha said that was quite all right, considering the reception she, a Muggleborn, would have received from most of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

As long as Mrs. Freeman was taking treatments at St. Mungo's, Sirius had showed a strange disposition to hang around the place, to the point where Andromeda had given him the woman's treatment schedule just so he wouldn't keep showing up at random times. Once Mrs. Freeman's magical treatments were over, Sirius' obsession with the hospital had stopped, but he had of course wanted to be kept updated on her condition with the Muggle kind of medicine working on her, and he and Aletha had kept both their owls busy through the summer.

And now, here was Aletha, asking them to sit with her, when the year before she wouldn't have given them the time of day...

_In another five years, she and Padfoot might actually admit they like each other. _

Remus chuckled as he pulled his trunk down the hall after him.

"Hi there, oh great exalted one," said Danger, coming out of the compartment.

A gleam on her robes caught Remus' eye. He grinned. "Congratulations."

"Yeah, yeah, it's a nuisance and I didn't want it," grumbled Danger, but Remus could tell she was actually thrilled to have been chosen prefect. "You going to teach me the ropes?"

"If you need help, I'm here."

Danger flipped her hair out of her face with a smug little toss of her head. "I'll remember that. And the reverse is also true."

"And I'll remember that." Remus warred with himself for a moment, then gave in. "In case I ever need help from a furry midget."

"Furry _midget?_" Danger's wand was in her hand. "I'll show _you_ furry midget!"

Remus managed to block her Shrinking Charm, but wasn't so lucky with the Hair-Thickening Jinx. Sirius had to reverse it, after he stopped laughing, since Remus couldn't articulate anything through the mustache which had grown to cover his mouth. Danger looked quite pleased with herself.

_She'd better watch what she eats tonight. Or rather, she'd better not watch. I think I have just one packet of Purple Polka-dot Powder left..._

* * *

The note in Remus' letter had included the current password to Dumbledore's office. "Pepper Imp," he told the gargoyle, and was shortly riding the staircase upwards. He knocked on the wooden door.

"Come in," called the Headmaster's voice. Remus pushed the door open.

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, with a small group of people in front of it – a family, Remus thought, father, mother, and daughter, whom he vaguely recognized as being from Danger's year.

"Ah, Remus, excellent. Mr. and Mrs. Mead, this is Remus Lupin, a Gryffindor seventh year and a prefect. Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Mead and their daughter Evanie, a Gryffindor fifth year."

"Pleased to meet you," said Remus, shaking hands with the family. The mother was openly sizing him up, the father looked somewhat skeptical and the daughter embarrassed.

_All right, what's going on here?_

"Miss Mead was bitten by a werewolf during last month's full moon," said Dumbledore gravely. "Her diagnosis has been confirmed. I have assured her family that her education here can continue, but they wished to hear from someone with, shall we say, personal experience." His eyes were somewhat apologetic – he knew how much Remus hated to have anyone find out about his condition.

_But this is legitimate. She's going to be scared out of her mind this coming month – I remember how I felt, starting here, and I'd had years to get used to transforming by then. As much as anyone ever does get used to it. _

"Would you mind telling the Meads about the precautions which are taken to ensure your, and our, safety at the full moon?" Dumbledore finished.

"Of course." Remus turned in his chair to face the family. "The Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade is not actually haunted," he explained. "That's where I spend my transformation nights. There's a secret passageway to it from the Hogwarts grounds – no direct access to the castle, so even if I did find a way out while I was transformed, I wouldn't get into the school itself. As well, the passage is guarded by the Whomping Willow, which keeps the students out and me in at the same time."

Evanie smiled hesitantly. "I always wondered what that was for," she said quietly.

"So, will Evanie spend full moons in this Shack too?" Mr. Mead asked Dumbledore.

"It is the safest place we have, and I am sure Remus will not object to sharing."

_Sharing._

_Sharing the Shack. _

_With another werewolf. _

The implications of that hit Remus like a ton of hippogriff dung.

_The others can't come anymore. There's no way they could let me out and keep her in – she'd want to come with us, and James and Sirius can't possibly control two of us, they have a hard enough time with me – we can't go exploring anymore..._

"So, you two will be spending time together," Mrs. Mead was saying as Remus brought his mind back to the present, grateful for his long practice in keeping his thoughts off his face. "Perhaps something will come of that, eh, dear?" She poked her daughter in the side and winked. Evanie blushed and shot an apologetic look at Remus.

_And that's something else I didn't think of. A male wolf and a female, confined in the same space for a night... oh, very bad things could come of that..._

"I believe you two will want to join your friends now," said Dumbledore, looking at Remus and Evanie. "The feast is currently underway, and I can answer any further questions you may have." This last was addressed to the Meads.

"Thank you, sir." Remus got up and opened the door for Evanie, making her mother chuckle knowingly.

"I'm sorry about her," Evanie blurted as they rode the staircase down together. "She thinks it would be romantic if I fell in love with another werewolf."

Remus had to laugh. "Do you think it would be romantic?" he asked.

"No," said Evanie frankly. "You're very nice, but I don't think I could love you. I'm not a very good student, and you are. You're always reading and studying. Besides, you're..." She broke off, blushing even harder.

"What?" asked Remus, honestly confused. "I'm what? Ugly?"

"No!" Evanie stared at him. "Do you think that?"

"Not really, but I have no idea what could be making you so embarrassed that you can't even say it. I don't take offense easily, trust me."

"But... it's nothing to do with you, really it isn't. I shouldn't even have brought it up. I'm sorry."

"It's all right. Shall we just forget it?"

"Please." They walked a short way in silence.

"I know about you and your friends," said Evanie after a little while. "But I don't really _know_ you. There's you, and there's the captain of the Quidditch team..."

"That's James. James Potter. He's Head Boy this year as well."

"Oh, is he? I knew Lily Evans is Head Girl, but not about him... and then there's the other boy who plays Quidditch, the Beater..."

"Sirius Black."

"And he likes the other Beater," said Evanie with certainty. "Aletha. But she can't stand him."

"You might be surprised," said Remus. "I think they may have come to at least a truce over the summer."

"Good." Evanie nodded. "They'll play better that way. And then there's the other boy. Peter Pettigrew."

"So his name you know," said Remus in slight surprise.

Evanie nodded. "We work together sometimes at Danger's study sessions."

"I see."

They had reached the Great Hall. "Do you have people you always sit with?" asked Remus. "Or could I tempt you to sit with us?"

"Really?" Evanie brightened. "I'd love to sit with you. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Remus spotted James and Sirius about a third of the way down the table and waved at them. James waved back and scooted down on the bench, making room between himself and Peter. But there was only room for one...

"You take that seat," said Remus. "I'll go around."

"She was right," said Evanie almost to herself.

"Who was?"

"Oh – er, my mum. She said you looked like a really nice person when you came in."

Remus shrugged and let it go, crossing the Hall to find some space across the table from his friends.

* * *

"Have you heard the news?" asked Sirius, sitting on the table about a week later at breakfast.

"Get your bum off this thing, unless you want us to eat it," said Aletha, punching him on the leg.

"No, what's the news?" asked James, passing Lily the toast.

"Danger's not going with Bevington any more."

Aletha, Lily, and Evanie all snickered. "That's not news," said Lily. "She hasn't been going with Bevington for a long time."

"So who is she going with?" asked Remus, attempting to make this question sound completely offhand and casual.

Sirius frowned. "Dunno."

Peter made a noise, but when Remus looked at him, he was concentrating on his kippers.

"Well, I did see her in the library with someone," said Evanie. "But I don't think she's actually going with him. He doesn't seem like her type."

"Who was it?" asked James.

Evanie shrugged. "I don't know his name. He's your year, but I think he's a Slytherin."

"A Slytherin?" Aletha sounded amazed. "Danger would never go out with a Slytherin!"

"Oh, come on, Letha, they can't all be bad," said Lily.

"As long as it wasn't my horrid brother," said Sirius.

"Can't be," said James. "Our year, you said, Evanie?"

"Snape."

Six heads turned towards Peter. "She was in the library with Snape," he said in a tone of unburdening himself of all his bad news at once. "They were talking quietly and looking at a big book together."

"I don't believe it," said James.

"Believe it," said Sirius, staring towards the entrance to the Great Hall.

Everyone turned to look.

Danger Granger and Severus Snape had just walked in, side by side and deep in conversation.

"Well, I suppose he could just be getting study help," said Lily, but as if she didn't even believe herself.

"Snape? Need study help?" James snorted. "He may be a git, but he's an intelligent git. He doesn't need help – she's more likely to need help from him."

Remus hadn't thought he could ever feel as bad again as he had felt when Danger had spurned him in his fifth year. He'd been wrong.

He stared at them, watching every movement of their hands, Danger's brown eyes earnestly fixed on Snape's greasy face as he explained a difficult point, with the usual expression of not-quite-sneering that the Slytherin wore when he had to speak with a Muggleborn perfectly in place.

_I would never have expected this from him, with his standpoints on Muggleborns. He hasn't exactly bothered to keep them secret. _

_But if anyone could change his mind, it would be Danger. No one could resist her. _

_Maybe she'll be able to un-git-ify him. That would be like her – noble, kind, and apparently impossible..._

_But more likely, she'll just throw her life away on him. _

_Better on him than on you,_ said the most cynical part of his mind. _At least he can support her and give her children. Be honest – she'll have a better chance at happiness with him than she would with you. And you want her to be happy. _

_So quit staring at them like that will change anything. It won't. _

He tore his eyes away just in time to see Evanie giving Peter a thumbs up, and Peter grinning back at her. He would ordinarily have been interested in what that was about, but not today.

He missed Aletha's wink to Lily completely.

* * *

Remus found some time to do some research in the library before his and Evanie's first full moon together, and what he found relieved him greatly. Studies had been done on werewolves – with their prior permission, Remus devoutly hoped – which showed that male and female werewolves in wolf form were not sexually attracted to one another. It probably had to do with the sterility, Remus thought – since they didn't reproduce that way, there was no reason for them to have that kind of drive.

As well, he and Evanie likely wouldn't attack one another. It was even possible that they might have the same kind of calming effect on each other as the animal-Marauders did on him...

_And I still haven't told them. _

Remus shut his book and went to find his friends. They'd have to be told; full moon was in two days, and they were all expecting to go out with him as usual.

_They're not going to like this._

* * *

"Why the hell not?" exploded Sirius when Remus told him it might not be a good idea for the Marauders to join him in the Shack this month.

James was slightly more restrained. "Are you suddenly turning into a masochist or something, Moony?"

"No. Just trust me, all right? It's a bad idea for you to come this month, or the rest of this year, come to think."

"What's going on?" asked Peter, coming into the dorm.

James told him.

Peter looked at Remus. "Is this because of Evanie?" he asked.

"What does Evanie have to do with anything?" asked Sirius blankly.

Remus nodded. "You know, then," he said.

Peter smiled shyly. "When I asked her to go to Hogsmeade with me, she said there was something I should know first..." The end of his sentence was drowned out by the other boys' noises of congratulations.

"So you finally got around to it," said James, pumping Peter's hand. "Well done, Wormtail."

"I hope you told her it doesn't matter," said Sirius, taking his turn.

"And I hope you didn't tell her why," said Remus. "It is still illegal, you know. What are you planning on doing about that, by the way? Someone's eventually going to find out – the girls are going to have to know, if you plan on staying with them..."

"We can pretend to study for it after we leave school," said James, waving a hand airily as if dismissing such a mundane detail. "And then break all records for how fast we pass the Ministry tests."

"So what did Evanie have to tell you before she'd go to Hogsmeade with you?" asked Sirius.

"She's a werewolf too."

"Oh." Sirius nodded. "So you have to share now, Moony. That's no big deal, is it?"

"No – but it means we can't go out like we usually do."

"Why not?"

Remus sat down on his bed. "Padfoot, be sensible. You and Prongs had enough trouble keeping me back the last time we ran into someone out for a late night walk in the moonlight. How are you going to handle two of us? It isn't going to work – so just stay in the castle. Or, if you do come out, we all have to stay in the Shack."

"Aww," complained James. "I hate that place. My antlers always catch on that one chandelier."

"Fine, stay in and study for Potions," said Sirius. "I'm going. Wormtail?"

"I'm in." Peter grinned.

"And I don't have a choice," said Remus.

They all looked at James.

"Oh, fine," he said in his best whiny little boy voice.

"There's only one problem," said Remus. "If you three have the same effect on her as on me, she's going to remember you. At least a little."

Sirius shrugged. "Tell her it's common to have hallucinations of other animals or something. She doesn't know any better."

"I don't want to lie to her, Padfoot."

"Don't lie. Just bend the truth a little. Tell her you saw them too, and you always see them on full moons, but never any other time. That's true, isn't it?"

"More or less... though I seem to recall a certain time last year when McGonagall caught three boys and a dog drunk in a classroom at ten o'clock..."

"And who was it that suggested the Tower might not be the best place to drink?" demanded Sirius.

"I didn't tell you to transform and start dancing, that was your idea."

* * *

Evanie's first full moon passed more or less quietly. She bore the pain, beforehand and after, stoically, and from Remus' admittedly foggy memories, she made a handsome wolf. True to what he'd read, he had felt no spark of desire towards her, except perhaps the desire to play. And play they had – up and down the stairs, down the halls and through the rooms – one of the upstairs bedrooms had a new door in it, where the two of them had crashed through a wall together.

Sirius had joined in their games wholeheartedly, but Peter was too small to keep up, and James had the problem he'd mentioned – antlers really weren't meant for indoor use. So the two of them had stayed on the main floor, in the one room with a nice high ceiling and nothing hanging from it, and the two wolves and the dog had brought the games to them when they had run off some of their energy.

Overall, it had been a decent full moon. Not like some of the ones they'd had last year, of course, the ones where they could roam the entire Forest, go hunting, play a proper game of hide-and-go-seek...

But he couldn't have that any more, Remus told himself sternly, and it was foolish to wish for what he couldn't have.

_So why are you still thinking about Danger?_ asked a snide little voice in his head.

_Shut up._ Danger didn't seem in a hurry to replace Bevington. She and Snape had been seen together a few times, but never in any really romantic-looking place or pose, and even the most avid gossipmongers were starting to lose interest in them. In fact, Danger hadn't been seen very much at all lately.

_Maybe she and Snape found a nice private place,_ the voice suggested. _Somewhere where no one will bother them. And they're sneaking off together and..._

_I said shut up._

The voice didn't listen. Instead, it provided particulars of what Snape and Danger might be doing together. This in itself was rather disgusting to think of, but it was made worse by the fact that just about everything the voice listed, Remus would have been only too happy to do with Danger himself.

He was greatly relieved to be distracted by the arrival of Peter, who said he had come to visit him, Remus, but spent most of his time glancing over at Evanie – and the flowers he produced from behind his back certainly weren't for Remus.

_I think he's been taking charm lessons from Sirius._

* * *

One term, a few Hogsmeade weekends, and three full moons later, the situation hadn't improved at all. If anything, it had gotten worse. Danger was almost never seen in public anymore, except in classes and at meals, and even those she hurried out of as if she had somewhere vitally important to be. And Snape was often missing at the same times she was.

It didn't help that all three of Remus' friends were so happily in love it was sickening. James had asked Lily, very politely, if she would go to Hogsmeade with him, and been floored when she said yes. Sirius had asked Aletha the same night, and Peter and Evanie's date had been made long beforehand. They were the newest, hottest couples on the Hogwarts gossip chain, and odds were being laid on who would be the first to pop the question.

Remus was in a foul mood as he left his last class of the term. It didn't help that James had slipped a note to Lily while the professor was distracted, or that Sirius had spent the entire period doodling _ACF + SVB _all over his parchment, or that Peter had practically dashed out the door when the bell had rung, probably heading for some rendezvous with Evanie...

And just as Remus thought that, he turned a corner and saw them.

They were kissing behind one of the suits of armor. No, not kissing. This was full frontal snogging, and from the position of Peter's hands, Remus was willing to bet it was going to go a bit farther soon.

He backed quickly away before either of them could notice him, put down his schoolbag, removed a spare piece of parchment, and reduced it to fragments.

_I hate this. I bloody hate this. I really, truly, bloody hate this. _

_What do you hate?_ asked a voice in his mind – for a wonder, a reasonable-sounding one. _Seeing Peter be lucky in love? He deserves some happiness, doesn't he?_

_Yes – that's not what I meant..._

_Ah, it's Peter being lucky while you're not, isn't it?_

Remus growled under his breath, then decided to be honest with himself, since he couldn't be with anyone else. _Yes._

_Tell me something. What makes Evanie special?_

_You mean apart from her being interested in Peter?_

_Yes. _

_Well, she's a werewolf..._

_There!_

_There what?_

_Being a werewolf doesn't necessarily mean no one will ever love you. We've just proved it. _

Remus snuck another look around the corner, then pulled his head back hastily. They had indeed moved on, and he rather hoped they moved, full stop, before Filch caught them.

_Go on,_ he said to the voice.

_All that's needed is for the other person to be understanding and flexible. And Danger fits those categories, doesn't she?_

_Well..._

_Doesn't she?_

_Yes._

_Fine. Get her alone, tell her the truth, and see what she says. _

_What part of the truth? The "I'm a werewolf" part, or the "I want to snog you until we both pass out from lack of air" part?_

_Both._

_Don't you think she might have a bad reaction to that?_

_Which part?_

_Both. _

_No. Girls love hearing stuff like that._

_They do? If I'd known that, I would have told the world long ago..._

_You know which one I mean. And you do know that talking to yourself is one of the first signs of insanity?_

"In that case, I've been insane for years," muttered Remus aloud.

"At least you have the courage to admit it," said a voice from behind him.

Remus spun around. Danger was leaning against the wall of the hallway, grinning. "Hi," she said.

"Hello." Remus felt his breath coming a bit short, and not just from the shock she'd given him. She was so beautiful...

"We haven't seen each other much lately. I thought I'd come say hi before we all leave for home."

"Thanks." Remus couldn't think of anything else to say.

_What am I thinking? Of course I have something to say to her!_

"Danger, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?"

Danger looked around. There was no one else in sight.

"I mean, somewhere we won't be disturbed," Remus explained quickly, cursing inwardly. This was going to be awkward, but he finally had his courage up, and he was going to get this done and damn the consequences.

"All right." She turned and began walking down the hall. Remus followed her.

An empty classroom wasn't hard to come by. Remus shut the door behind himself and turned to face her. "I have something to tell you," he began. "Something important. I probably should have told you a long time ago, but I was always too scared."

Danger was sitting on one of the desks, one knee drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around it, and looking at him intently.

"So it's time for me to stop having secrets. Time you knew." Remus took a deep breath to say the three words that would change her view of him forever.

The door flew open.

"I've been looking for you," said a deep, heavily enunciated voice. "You're needed."

"What, now?" Danger looked highly unhappy. "Can't it wait?"

"You know it can't." Severus Snape looked at Remus. "Lupin," he said with a curt nod.

"Snape," Remus answered, keeping his face impassive.

Danger slid off the desk. "I have to go," she said, looking at Remus imploringly. "I really have to go – it's important – I want to hear this, whatever it is, but can it wait?"

"Yes, of course," said Remus. "It can wait."

But in his heart he knew it couldn't.

_If I was ever going to tell her, it had to be now. _

_I don't think I'll ever have that much courage again._

And as he watched Danger follow Snape from the room, it seemed he might never again have any courage at all.

* * *

(A/N: So here's a nice long chapter to make up for no update last night! I hope Alex got my message through... if not, I'll get him for it...

_Of course I did, what do you think I am, a stupid Gryffindor?_

I thought you said you weren't going to write in my author notes.

_I lied._

Of course you did.

Anyway. I had a good time at the wonderful house of my wonderful boss, who served us this delicious thing with shrimp – I thought she was just going to order pizza or something – and then I played Frisbee and caught fireflies (not at the same time). And more chapter will come tomorrow... speculations on what Danger's actually doing with Snape are quite, quite welcome! Correct speculations will be rewarded with hugs!)


	9. Chapter 6: The Beginning of the End

Chapter 6: The Beginning of the End

It was the night of the full moon in January. James was in his dorm, inspecting the Invisibility Cloak, when Sirius walked in, whistling off-key.

"You sound happy."

"Oh, I am." Sirius crashed onto his bed as if his broomstick had failed. "I just did what Moony's too nice to do."

"Why do I have the feeling I ought to be scared?" James asked the ceiling. "What did you do, Padfoot?"

"Well, Snivellus stole Moony's girl, didn't he?"

"More or less."

"So Moony ought to get him back for it. But, like I said, he's too nice."

"Yeah..." James wasn't liking the sound of this.

"He's too nice most of the time." Sirius grinned evilly. "He's not going to be too nice tonight."

"Tonight..." James jumped to his feet. "Padfoot, _what did you do?_"

"I told Snivellus how to get past the Willow," chanted Sirius, rolling around on his bed in glee. "I told him how to get into the passage..."

"You bloody _idiot!_" James bolted for the door.

_Have to run. Have to run. Have to get there before he does._

He risked one of the passages Filch knew about – it led from the fifth floor to a secret door on the outside of the castle, on the same side as the Willow – and was rewarded by seeing a cloaked figure cautiously approaching the tree, which was whipping its branches around. James picked up speed, seeing Snape bend over, pick up a long stick lying in the snow – McGonagall had probably left it there – and maneuver it carefully through the thrashing branches to prod the knot on the trunk.

_No, no, no..._

The tree froze in place. Snape darted in and disappeared down the passage. James speeded up still more, moving faster than he ever had in human form, as a human scream and the howl of a werewolf sounded simultaneously from among the roots of the tree.

He was at the tree, he was in the tunnel – Snape was standing frozen not three feet in, as Moony hurled himself down the passage, howling –

James threw his arms around Snape, hauling them both backwards and out of the passage, shoved the other boy out of range of the Whomping Willow's branches, and slammed his hand down on the knot before diving out of range himself as the tree reactivated, bashing a branch down hard against the tunnel's entrance. James heard Moony's bay of frustration and caught a glimpse of his friend's gleaming eyes and teeth before the werewolf turned and loped back down the passage, back to the Shrieking Shack.

_Thank all the gods, he didn't see Evanie – this is going to be bad enough – _

"That was Lupin," said Snape in a voice that still shook, but was starting to regain its sneering qualities. "No wonder he always looks ill. How long have you known, Potter?"

"None of your effing business," snapped James, standing up and brushing snow off himself. "Come with me."

"Why, so you can hand me over to a vampire?" Snape retorted. "Like Black tried to give me to the werewolf?"

"We're going to Dumbledore. With or without your cooperation." James hauled Snape to his feet. "Come on."

He wasn't sure whether he was madder at Snape or at Sirius.

_You complete moron,_ he wanted to scream at Snape, _why the hell would you do anything Sirius told you to, even if it was to tie your shoes? Couldn't you tell he was setting you up for something?_

But that compared to what he was planning to say to Sirius like a chicken's egg compared to a dragon's.

* * *

Sirius was having a fine time imagining Snape's face when he got into the passage. Would "horror" be the best word for the expression, he wondered, or would it be "terror", or "pants-wetting fear"?

_Maybe all three._ He grinned.

_And then Moony gets a chance at him – maul him up, maybe even rid the world of a slimy git..._

The door to the dormitory slammed open with such force that it bounced off the wall and nearly closed again. Sirius looked around, startled.

James was standing framed in the doorway, glaring at him with eyes that looked like fire. Sirius almost checked himself over for spontaneous combustion. "Hey, Prongs," he said, wondering what had happened.

"Get up." James' voice, in direct contrast to his eyes, was as cold as the night outside. "Come with me."

Sirius frowned. "Why?"

"Don't ask questions. Let's go."

_What the hell is he so mad about?_

Still, he got up and followed James out of the dorm, out the portrait hole, and into an empty classroom. He was surprised to see several other people already there – Aletha, Peter, Lily, and...

"So you tore yourself away from your greasy boyfriend long enough to slum with your Housemates, did you?" he said sarcastically to Danger. "Nice of you."

"Shut up." James' tone brooked no disobedience. "Sit down." He Summoned a chair with his wand and placed it facing the other four. Peter looked confused, as did Lily, Sirius noticed as he took a seat. Aletha was eyeing him curiously, and Danger seemed to be attempting to burn his hair off with her glare.

_Her and James. What did I do to get them so mad?_

_Well, I can see where Danger might be a little pissed at me..._

"Sirius Black," said James, getting his attention.

_Uh-oh, that's his Head Boy voice._

"Earlier tonight, you told Severus Snape something that could have gotten him killed."

Lily gasped softly. Aletha's eyes widened.

"And one of our friends would have been responsible for his death."

Peter made a noise of understanding. Danger was sitting very still, her lips a thin line.

"Do you deny this?" James finished.

"No, I don't." Sirius' usual disrespect for authority had just activated, combined with his extreme dislike of being wrong about anything. "The bastard deserves it. I wish Moony'd killed him."

He never even saw her coming. One second, Danger was in her chair, the next, she was kneeling on his chest, wand in his face. "Don't _ever_ say that again," she snarled, before Aletha and Lily pulled her off him. "_Ever._"

"Dumbledore wants to see you," said James as Sirius got to his feet awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head where it had impacted with the stone floor. "But he said we could talk to you first." He turned to the other four. "Ladies and gentlemen, you've heard it from his own mouth. The verdict?"

Peter stood up. "I don't know you," he said to Sirius, and turned his back.

Sirius stared. "What the – Wormtail!"

Lily let go of Danger's arm. "At least the worst James ever did was humiliate Snape," she said coldly. "You tried to kill him, and you're not even sorry." She turned her back as well.

"You don't exist," said Danger, pulling her other arm free of Aletha's grip. "For which be grateful, since if you did I'd feel free to curse you into a tree in the Forest and leave you there." She joined the other two.

Sirius couldn't believe this. It had just been a joke, that was all – everyone was overreacting –

"And here I thought you'd changed," said Aletha, getting all his attention. Her voice was choked, but not with tears. Sirius had never seen her angrier. "You actually thought it was funny, didn't you? To almost get someone killed? You make me sick. I can't believe I thought I loved you."

She turned and marched out of the room, not looking back once. Danger, Lily, and Peter followed her.

"Come on, Black," said James, breaking Sirius' stunned silence. "The Headmaster's waiting."

* * *

By the time Dumbledore finished with him, Sirius felt as if he'd been run over by the Knight Bus. Repeatedly. And then used as a Bludger in a World Cup match.

And that was before Remus got a hold of him.

"Hello, Padfoot," a voice said coolly the next afternoon, startling Sirius into banging his head against the door of the cupboard he was cleaning out on his hands and knees as part of his punishment. He backed out of the space to see Remus leaning on a wall nearby.

He opened his mouth to start explaining, but never got the chance.

"So you wanted me to kill Snape for you," Remus continued. "Sorry I couldn't oblige. Perhaps you could get Evanie to do it. I'm sure most sixteen-year-old girls love finding out that they've killed someone. And Peter would adore having his girlfriend, the only one he's ever had, go on trial for murder. Or maybe, because she's a werewolf, they'd just... oh, what's that phrase... ah yes, put her down."

The worst part of this, Sirius thought, was the way Remus never lost his expression of calm reason, or lifted his tone above a polite speaking level. "There'd certainly be an inquest into what a werewolf was doing at Hogwarts – Dumbledore'd probably lose his job over it, and Evanie and I would have to leave at the very least – who knows, this might even have sparked some nice race riots before it was done. After all, the world would be a safer place without werewolves. Why let them live? They're a danger to everyone."

He turned and walked away, but turned back before he reached the corner. "Oh, and before I forget – thank you for giving Snape the ability to ruin my life."

He was gone. Sirius sat in the middle of the mess he'd made of the closet, an old joke running through his head.

_So why did you take all your clothes off, douse yourself with steak sauce, and go running into the dragon's cave?_

And the reply, spoken wistfully by the man's ghost.

_Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time..._

* * *

In a school the size of Hogwarts, nothing stayed secret for long. Two days after it had happened, everyone knew that Sirius Black had tried to murder and/or maim Severus Snape (the details were foggy), and everyone's sympathies, even the Gryffindors, were with Snape.

Sirius found himself in the unprecedented position of having literally no one to talk to. No one would acknowledge his existence unless they had to. He'd been removed from the Quidditch team, so he couldn't even count on Aletha having to shout his name to get his attention for a move.

He'd returned to his dorm, exhausted, after his first all-day detention (he had six, plus evening detentions every night for three weeks) to find every piece of clothing he owned covered in red paint. When he tried to _Scourgify_ them clean, the paint came off the clothes, all right – but it stuck to him instead, resisting all his efforts to get it off. He had to go to detention bright red the next morning, and class the day after that.

The worst part of that episode, though, had been realizing that Danger and Evanie hadn't even really tried to get the paint out from under their fingernails. In fact, he suspected Danger of staining her hands deliberately, to inform him who was responsible. She obviously knew he didn't dare do anything in retaliation.

He ate alone, he worked alone, and he made it a point to shower alone after the third time someone stole his towel. It was rather like living at home again, except that now he didn't have the consolation of his friends elsewhere, or the satisfaction of knowing he was right. Instead, he had to get through his classes and detentions, do his homework, eat his meals, and try to sleep at night knowing he deserved everything he was getting.

He'd been able to maintain the façade of not caring to the rest of the world, and even to himself for the first week. After that, his internal attitude had crumbled, and he admitted in his own mind that he would have given anything for one smile from Aletha or one joking comment from James or Remus or Peter. He tried to apologize to them, but he got the same answer from everyone, even Remus – "It's not me you need to apologize to."

Which left him with only two options. Either he apologized to Snape, or he'd be stuck without friends for the rest of his life.

He was still trying to decide between the two when the February full moon came around.

James and Peter didn't bother to keep their voices down as they planned when to leave the dorm and what door to exit the castle by. Sirius lay on his bed, trying to convince himself that not having detention was a nice change, but it wasn't working – probably because all that being free of detention had done was give him more spare time in which to be ignored.

_I can't go on like this much longer._

Tomorrow, Sirius decided. He'd find Snape tomorrow.

* * *

Moony was unhappy. The female who was like him was with him, as were the two males who were not prey. But one was missing. Where was the fourth, the dark one, like him and yet unlike?

He searched the house, upstairs and down, and even ventured again into the tunnel where he had once seen prey, but was turned back by the waving branches of the tree. He growled at it, recalling a time when the female had not been there but the three males had, and when the smallest one had stopped the tree moving so that he and the others could go out. He wanted that to happen again.

The others had joined him now. He turned to the smallest one, picked him up in his jaws, and placed him at the mouth of the tunnel, glaring first at him, then at the branches. Let me out, he demanded in animal-speech.

The smallest one looked at the large one who was not prey, appealingly. The large one looked back, in a way that the human Remus would have identified as resigned, and moved his head up and down.

The smallest one scurried out of the hole, and a few moments later, the branches of the tree stopped moving. With a satisfied grumble, Moony hoisted himself out of the tunnel's mouth, followed by the female and the large one, who bowed his head so that his antlers would not snag.

They would search the forest for the dark one, Moony indicated. And if they did not find him, they could still play in the snow, and perhaps hunt.

Secretly, he hoped for real prey to hunt. The sort that walked on two legs. The large one and the dark one had always stopped him from hunting this kind of prey in the past. But the dark one was not here now. And the female could keep the large one occupied, while Moony attacked.

He howled at the mere thought of such pleasure, of the taste of blood in his mouth and the screams of the helpless prey. The female joined his howl. Together, they galloped towards the forest.

* * *

The howls caught Sirius' attention. He ran to the window of his dorm and peered out.

_Those idiots! What are they doing?_ The shapes of three animals were clearly visible in the moonlight – two wolves and a stag, and Sirius knew the rat had to be there somewhere, he just wasn't visible from so high up.

_I have to get out there. There's no way James can control two werewolves on his own. Peter's no help, he's so tiny either of them could make a mouthful of him – like Moony almost did once – unless he's got some kind of power over Evanie because of their relationship, and I don't think he does…_

He was running down the dormitory steps, for once grateful that no one would look in his direction in the common room. No one would be able to say where he'd gone. He flung himself down the flights of stairs, using secret passages wherever he could, wishing he'd thought to activate the Map, but he wasn't going to go back for it now. Time was of the essence.

He skidded to a halt at the door to the entrance hall, staring in horror.

_Tell me I didn't just see that._

But he had.

The great oak doors had just swung shut. Someone had left the castle.

With two werewolves loose on the grounds.

Sirius flung himself at the door, trying desperately to get it open – it didn't matter now who saw him change, it didn't matter how much trouble he got in. All that mattered was that Remus and Evanie didn't get a chance to kill anyone.

The doors were open, he was down the steps and onto the lawn, running four-pawed through the snow, passing the cloaked human, who had fallen to his knees at the sight of a werewolf charging straight at him. He hit Moony in mid-leap, knocking them both to the ground. The werewolf recovered first, snarling at him, but Sirius was up in time to get between him and the unknown human.

_Please, whoever you are, run,_ he pleaded with the unknown. _I don't know how long I can hold him…_

And then things got immeasurably worse. A howl of triumph sounded across the snowy lawn, and the other werewolf was bounding towards them, eyes fixed on her prey – Sirius spared one instant to see James, staggering to his feet with one leg obviously out of commission –

_No help there._

He slammed into Evanie, stopping her headlong charge, and whirled in time to catch Moony's tail with his teeth. The werewolf snarled, turning on him, and raked his face with its claws. Sirius stumbled back, half blinded by pain, but recovered in time to get to the side of the human, who, far from running as Sirius had hoped, appeared to have fainted.

_Why do I know that scent?_

He found an instant, between licking his wounds and preparing to defend against two irate werewolves, to glance down at the boy's face.

_Good God._

He was standing across his brother Regulus.

_What the hell is he doing out here?_

But there was no time to think about that. Remus and Evanie were closing in, teeth bared, growling deep in their throats.

Sirius growled back at them, prepared to sell his life dearly.

_If you have to kill someone, at least let it be someone who had a chance,_ he thought. _Let it be me. Maybe you'll think a little better of me after I'm dead. _

A howl rang out over the grounds of Hogwarts.

* * *

(A/N: All right, I may have to take the fluff warning off this. The plot just insisted on being written. So it's here, and it's involved, and it's strange, and if anyone figures out how this particular cliffie's going to be resolved, I will be highly impressed – oh yes, and nice guesses, everyone, but no one got it. Well, someone did get it, but they dismissed it as wrong. ;-)

And yes, I know that in canon, the Shrieking Shack incident occurred in sixth year (Snape refers to Sirius as being sixteen when it happened), but it works better for my purposes now. This is, after all, an AU. Of an AU. Hugs to all!)


	10. Chapter 7: The Middle of the End

Chapter 7: The Middle of the End

"Sirius. Sirius. Sirius!"

He groaned. Someone was shaking him. He wished they'd let him sleep.

"He looks bad," said another, worried voice.

"He should be all right," said the voice which had been calling him. He ought to be able to remember a name to put with the voice, Sirius thought, but it just wasn't coming. "No signs of major internal damage, no broken bones – he was damn lucky. But I want him awake so I can see if there's been any damage to that thing he calls his brain..."

The memory finally drifted within reach. After a few moments of intense, and somewhat painful, concentration, Sirius got his mouth to work.

"Letha?"

"He knows me, that's a good sign," said her voice, sounding relieved. "Hey there, ugly partner. Think you can get your eyes open?"

"Mmm... 'll try."

When he had time, Sirius decided, he was going to find out who had attached lead weights to all his eyelashes and do it back to them. Right after he kicked the drumming circle out of his head.

Aletha's figure, leaning over him, swam into focus. "There you are," she said, smiling at him.

"Thought you weren' talkin' t'me," Sirius slurred, surprised at the sound of his voice. He didn't remember getting drunk...

"Well, I make exceptions. That was one heck of a brave thing you did tonight. Stupid, but brave."

"Wha'd I do?"

"You ran outside and fought two werewolves to keep them from killing your brother," said Lily, coming into his field of view – the other voice had been hers, Sirius realized. "Once one of them was under control and the other one was gone, you dragged Regulus back into the castle. Then you collapsed."

"How'd you find me?"

"Peter came and got us."

"Oh. Where's he?"

"In the hospital wing. We had him take Regulus up so he could get treated himself."

Something finally twigged in Sirius' brain. "How'd you know I's fighting werewolves?"

Aletha sighed. "Peter told us everything," she said. "Or at least he claims he did."

"He told us about Remus and Evanie," said Lily, counting on her fingers. "And about you and him and James. And about how Remus once tried to eat him. And..." She scowled. "About how James told him it was all right to let them loose on the grounds tonight."

Sirius smiled, then stopped because it made his face hurt. "See?" he said instead. "I don' have th'monop'ly on stupid."

"No, you certainly don't." Lily was looking towards the huge doors anxiously. "I hope he's all right..."

As if on cue, one of the doors opened, admitting a gust of wind and snow which swirled around the otherwise invisible figure of a human being. Lily marched over to the door, pushed it shut, and pulled the Invisibility Cloak off James, who was looking rather beaten up himself, cradling one arm to his chest as well as having several bleeding cuts on the portions of him Sirius could see.

"That's all of you, then," said Aletha in satisfaction. "Come on, let's get you upstairs to Madam Pomfrey."

She conjured a stretcher under Sirius. "Don't talk to me," she warned him. "I'm not very good at this yet, and I might drop you if I have to make conversation. But don't go to sleep."

"Don' talk, don' go t'sleep. Got it."

"Good."

Instead of talking, Sirius counted the cracks in the ceiling as they went by. He had reached forty-seven when he thought of an important question he needed to ask. Unfortunately, by the time they reached the hospital wing he'd forgotten it again.

He remembered it in the instant between swallowing the last of the Sleeping Potion Madam Pomfrey gave him after she ascertained it was safe to do so and actually falling asleep.

_She said one of the werewolves was under control and the other one was gone. Which one was which? _

_And where did the other one go?_

* * *

"So," said Lily to James, sitting on the end of his bed after he'd been treated. Madam Pomfrey had allowed her to stay, with strict orders that she was to be out of there in ten minutes or she wouldn't know her head from her toes for three days. 

"So?" James smiled in his most charming way, but with an undercurrent of 'I'm-really-in-it-deep-this-time'.

"Illegal Animagus, are you?"

James winced. "Who told you?"

"Who do you think?"

"Wormtail." James sighed heavily. "He's never been good at keeping secrets."

"Let's see how good you are at keeping them when Letha and I both have our wands in your face."

"Good point."

"So. Remus and Evanie are werewolves. You, Sirius, and Peter are illegal Animagi. And you sneak out there every full moon to play with them. Do I have this right?"

James nodded warily.

"I won't tell anyone," said Lily, and watched James' face light up. "On two conditions."

"Conditions?"

"First off, you swear to me never, ever, to let them out of there again. Regulus could have died tonight, and it would have been your fault. The way it would have been Sirius', if Snape had been killed that night."

James flinched and held up his right hand. "I swear. No more letting them out."

"Good."

"What's the other condition?"

Lily grinned. "Teach me how to do it."

"Do what?"

"Become an Animagus, you twit! If you can do it, I can!"

James stared at her. "I can't believe this. Lily Evans, the most rule-following person I know, is asking me to help her break not just the rules, but the law?"

"I wouldn't be breaking any laws," said Lily, just a trifle haughtily. "I'm of age. And I'd register with the Ministry beforehand. But since you've already done it, it would be stupid of me not to have you help me. So tell me. What goes into becoming an Animagus?"

James scooted himself up in his bed a bit. Lily could tell this was one of his favorite topics, and obviously not one he got to talk about a lot. "Well, first there's a very simple spell. I think even a first year could do it. It's a scry, to find out what your form would be, and you do it with your wand and a mirror or a bowl of water or anything else you'd use for scrying. _Revelaro Animalis_ is the incantation. But like I said, that's the easy part. After that, the real work begins."

"Is it a wanded spell, or a potion, or a combination?"

"Combination, and there's lots of bookwork involved too. You have to go looking for spells to transfigure each part of your body. Front legs, back legs, top half, bottom half, tail – Sirius spent hours growing and ungrowing his tail, it fascinated him – and head. You need a couple of extra spells for the head, too – one so that you can still think like a human, and one to turn it back after a set length of time, because if your head is animal you obviously can't talk. That's one of the most common ways Animagus goes wrong, is people getting stuck with animal heads."

Lily shuddered.

"Exactly. Plus, you need spells to make sure your body can handle the new things you're changing it into, and spells to make sure you don't accidentally poison or crush yourself – and you have to find them all on your own, because they're a little different for everyone. It takes bloody forever – took us more than a year. And then, after you've changed every part of your body individually, comes the potion."

"What's that do?"

"It tells your body that, all right, you've made all these changes to parts, now you want all of it to change that way at once. And it helps make the changes permanent, so you can do it wandlessly." James made a face. "It is the most complicated, picky-perfect, horrendous potion I have ever brewed."

"Oh, you did it?"

"Think about it, Evans – would you trust Sirius or Peter with a cauldron? Or Remus, for that matter? Remember the hot pink hair incident?"

Lily groaned. "Never forget it."

"So yes, I brewed the potion. And I had to do it four times."

"Four?"

"The first batch ate through the cauldron – we couldn't use our school ones, they would have been missing for three months, that's how long it takes to brew, so I bought a cheap one at a junk store and it turned out not to be acid-resistant. The second batch blew up halfway through because I added one too many acorns, and we waited too long to drink the third batch, so it curdled. You have ten minutes to drink this stuff after it turns clear, and we couldn't find Wormtail in time to do it. So I had to start all over. But the fourth batch came out fine."

"Is that the end of it?"

"No. Then you need one last incantation, for your full transformation. You can use a prewritten one or write your own – we found this old book in the library with suggestions for all sorts of forms, and a Latin dictionary to help you write one. Peter used a premade one, with a little customization, but Sirius and I wrote our own. You need to recite the full incantation when you're first transforming all the way, but as you get better at it, you can cut it shorter and shorter, until finally you don't need it at all. That's when you're really an Animagus."

Lily nodded thoughtfully. "Think I will," she said. "But maybe I'll wait until after N.E.W.T.s."

"Good plan." James moved a little closer to her. "I've been doing a lot of talking. Can I ask you a question?"

"All right."

"When did you stop hating me?"

"Hating you?" Lily stared at him in confusion. "I've never hated you."

"Ahem." James forced his voice into a falsetto. "'I'm surprised your broom can even get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.'"

"Oh, that." Lily laughed. "Don't you know why I was so angry with you?"

"Because I was being a total prat?"

"Well, that. But I was madder than I would have been if it had been just Sirius doing it. Do you know why?"

"Er, no."

"Because I liked you, you big idiot! I liked you, and it was driving me nuts that a boy I liked could do such awful things – and that I didn't even have the sense to stop liking him! So I overreacted, and made things worse – I know Letha and Danger had to stop you after I left, because you were mad at me and taking it out on Snape."

"Speaking of Danger, where is she?"

Lily shrugged. "She wasn't in her dorm. She might have slipped out to the library for a midnight study session."

"Or a midnight snog session," said James in disgust. "With Snape."

Lily looked away to avoid showing the expression on her face to James. "Possibly."

"Shouldn't we do something about that? Being Head Boy and Girl and all?"

"We probably should. But right now, I want to keep talking to you, because I still haven't answered your question." Lily thought back. "There wasn't one big thing last year that made me change my mind about you. It was a lot of little things, I think. Like the way you coached the new Chasers and Seeker on the Quidditch team – you were so patient and never yelled at them, even when they dropped the Quaffle or missed the Snitch at practice. Or the way you could take a joke on yourself. Not everyone can do that."

"You mean the time Padfoot and Moony levitated my bed down to the Great Hall and left me there?"

"With a big lighted message over it saying 'James Potter sleeps with a teddy bear.'" Lily laughed aloud. "And you did."

"And I still do," admitted James. "His name is Mr. Pookums."

"_Mr. Pookums?_"

"There, my big secret is out at last." James looked relieved. "Now you know everything about me."

"Should I run up to the Tower and fetch you Mr. Pookums, so that you'll sleep better?" asked Lily naughtily.

"No thanks – but I might like a goodnight kiss."

"In your dreams, Potter." Lily stood up. "Sleep well."

"Thanks. You too." James pulled his glasses off and set them on the nightstand, lay down in the bed, and closed his eyes.

Lily bent over and brushed her lips against his cheek.

James' hazel eyes flew open again. "What the–"

"You must have been dreaming," said Lily, smiling wickedly at him.

James shook his head. "Flirt."

"Only with you." Lily wiggled her fingers in a sweetsie wave goodnight.

* * *

Remus came awake feeling odd. 

Cheated, he decided as he drifted closer to full awakening. He felt as if he'd been cheated out of something, although he couldn't remember what it was.

"Moony?" asked a voice close to him.

He opened his eyes. Peter was leaning over him.

Remus groaned. "You are _not_ the first thing I want to see in the morning, Wormtail," he said hoarsely.

Peter grinned. "He's fine."

"Good," said James' voice from somewhere nearby. Remus located him after a moment of looking, in the next bed to the right. He was looking anxious about something. "Moony – how much of last night do you remember?"

Remus thought back. "Not much," he said. "I was looking for Padfoot. And I went down the passage and told Wormtail to open it so we could go out – but we didn't, did we?"

James smiled, though it looked more like someone was forcing his lips back. "Actually..."

"We did," said Remus resignedly. "What went wrong?"

"Nothing," said Lily, startling him considerably, as he hadn't known she was there. "Luckily for everyone involved. But there are a few mysteries left to solve, and we were hoping you could shed some light on them."

Remus sat up and looked around. Lily was curled up at the foot of James' bed. Peter was now sitting on Evanie's bed, across the aisle from his own. Evanie herself was propped up in bed with pillows, but looked more or less well, as much as that was possible for a werewolf the day after full moon. Sirius was lying in the bed on his other side, seemingly still asleep, and Aletha was sitting cross-legged on the bottom of that bed.

Then the full impact of Lily's words hit him, and he turned to stare at her.

"We know, Remus," she said, looking squarely at him. "Letha and I both know now. And it doesn't matter – except that I rather wish you'd told us before this, we might have been able to help."

"As it was, we had to hear the full explanation before we understood exactly why Peter was so convinced that he couldn't take this to any of the teachers," Aletha took over the conversation. "But as far as we can tell, no one suffered for it. Regulus already left, he's perfectly fine, though Dumbledore will be having a word with him about what he should and shouldn't tell people."

"Regulus?" asked Remus in confusion. "Padfoot's brother? What does he have to do with anything?"

"He was out on the grounds last night," said Evanie. "When we were. We nearly attacked him." Her face was grim.

More flashes of memory came to Remus. The scent of prey – the prey's defender, the dark one, once a friend, now by his actions declared an enemy – closing in on the dark one with the female by his side, ready to attack, to kill –

He shook himself out of those thoughts, appalled.

"Nothing happened," said James quickly. "But I don't know why. Let me tell you what I saw?"

Remus nodded dumbly.

"Sirius stopped just you from attacking Regulus the first time," James began. "I was trying to control Evanie, until she took out one of my forelegs. Then she got away from me, and Sirius had you both stalking him. It was Peter who saved the day first."

"Really?" Remus looked at his mousy friend with interest.

"I bit her tail," said Peter, coloring up as James snickered. "I ran up her leg and bit it hard, and hung on."

"And I had no idea what was going on," Evanie said. "All I knew was that something hurt, and I had to get it off. I forgot all about the human."

"But – how did Sirius stop me?"

"He didn't," said James. "About the time Wormtail bit Evanie – you need a nickname," he said to the girl in an aside. "Anyway, about that time, there was a howl, but I don't think it was either of you. Actually, it can't have been, because you oriented on it, and it was coming from the Forest. You ran off that way without even looking back."

"That doesn't make sense," said Remus in confusion. "Nothing distracts a werewolf from human prey. Or, at least, nothing should."

"Evanie got rid of me about that time," said Peter. "She rammed Sirius and gave him a concussion. But I bit her paw and got her attention again before she could bite Regulus, and she started chasing me around."

"It was either desperation or genius," said James, "but Wormtail ran right under me. Evanie followed him, and I lay down fast, on top of her – pinned her flat. She couldn't get her teeth or claws into me, and she couldn't get away, so we just stayed that way until Padfoot came around and dragged Regulus into the castle. Then I let her up and got her back into the Shack, and then I went out to look for you."

"With a hurt foot?"

James shrugged. "Think of it as my punishment for being stupid enough to let you out in the first place. I have no idea what I was thinking."

"Or if you were thinking," said Lily acerbically.

"Touché. Anyway, I looked for you for at least an hour, but I couldn't find you anywhere, so I ended up going back to the Shack – and there you were, lying on the floor, polite as can be. You must have gone back in on your own somehow. Do you remember any of this? What you ran off after, or how you got back?"

"No," said Remus quickly. "Nothing."

"Nothing at all?"

"You know I never remember anything if I'm not with you."

James nodded. "True enough."

It was one of the only times Remus had ever lied to his friends. He remembered why he had run off into the Forest, all right – but it made no sense. It was impossible. Werewolves didn't think that way.

And the only other thing he remembered made so little sense that it had to be a dream.

* * *

He was running, chasing her. She might be playful, but he was stronger than she. He would run her to earth at last, and then he would have his way with her. 

He bounded into a clearing and stopped. There she was, standing poised in the moonlight. It lit up her long fur, the clean sweep of her neck and head, her pricked ears and long straight tail.

She was beautiful. He was consumed with desire.

He started forward, snarling in such a way as to make it clear that he was the master here. He would have dominance over her, and take what he wanted, whether she would or no.

But she was faster than he had reckoned.

In an instant, she was over him, teeth fixed in his scruff, and shaking him like a mother would shake a cub. He tried to break away, and she shook harder, growling. Eventually he submitted.

As soon as he did, she released him and pranced around to his front, where she lay down and rolled onto her back. It was a clear invitation for him to dominate her, and he was confused. She had just proved her dominance over him – what was she doing, setting it up the other way?

But he took the invitation, standing over her and placing his jaws around her throat, holding them there with just enough pressure for her to feel it. She held very still until he had finished. Then she was rolling in the snow, whining in enjoyment, and giving him looks that meant _Come join me._

As he did, understanding of a sort came to him. She wanted neither dominance nor submission from him – at least, not either all the time. She wanted something different. Something like a partnership.

A mating.

And even as he thought that, she rolled over and licked his muzzle, slowly, teasingly. She wasn't in heat, he could smell that, but there were games one could play even when no cubs would come...

* * *

_But nothing happened. Nothing like that, anyway. We played a little more, then she took me back to the Shack – she used a stick in her teeth to freeze the Willow – and left. And then I don't remember anything else until this morning._

_It has to have been a dream. I've had some strange ones before on full moon nights. Like the one I always used to have, about being swept out to sea by a riptide and nearly drowning – I haven't had that in a long time. Not since the others started coming. _

"I don't remember anything," he repeated. "Not after running off into the Forest."

James sighed. "Well, whyever you did it, I'm bloody glad you did. It's probably all that kept this from being the biggest disaster of the year."

"No, it wasn't," said a raspy voice from Remus' left. "I could have taken him."

"BS," said at least three people at once.

"No kidding." Sirius opened his eyes. "Hey, Letha."

"Hey," she said, smiling at him with what looked suspiciously like tenderness. "You're going to be all right – feel like crap for a few days, but you'll recover."

"Thanks for the warning."

"I owe you a huge apology, Padfoot," said James from Remus' other side. "I screwed up even bigger than you did, and you saved all our butts."

"It's not me you need to apologize to," said Sirius in a sing-song tone.

"True." James sighed. "Moony – Evanie – Merlin, what can I even say?"

"Start with the basics," Remus advised.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry." James even looked sorry, Remus noted. His face was pained and drawn. "That could have been the worst thing that ever happened to any of us – you could have killed Regulus, or been outed publicly – and it would have been all my fault."

"But it didn't happen," said Evanie. "No one died, a few people got hurt, and now we're all smarter."

"Just don't do it again," said Remus. "_Ever._"

"I won't. I swear." James smiled a little weakly. "Already swore to Lily. Now I'll swear it to all of you. I will never release a werewolf again."

"James Potter," said Peter suddenly, in a surprisingly good impression of Professor McGonagall. "How many times must I tell you – put the werewolves back where you found them when you're done playing with them!"

Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office to scold them all for laughing far too loudly.

* * *

Severus Snape looked up from his book as footsteps approached his table in the library. "Black," he said coldly. 

"Snape." Sirius Black looked uncomfortable, which suited Severus just fine. "There's something I need to say to you."

"Speak."

"Alone."

Severus looked pointedly around the empty library. Even Madam Pince was absent, having gone to a staff meeting. They were most definitely alone.

"All right." Black took out his wand. Severus surreptitiously fingered his own, but all Black did was cast a Privacy Spell around them.

"I am listening," said Severus, leaning back in his chair.

"I'm... sorry. For telling you how to get into that passage. It was the dumbest thing I've ever done, and I've done a lot of dumb things."

_No argument there._

"I don't like you, that's no secret, but I don't want you dead. I should have thought twice, or three times, or a hundred times, before I told you that. So I'm sorry."

Severus took care not to let his astonishment and gratification show. This was promising; perhaps he could milk it a bit. "I don't believe you," he sneered. "You'll have to do better than that."

"How do you mean?"

"On your knees, Black. If you truly mean what you're saying."

To his delight, Black slowly and apparently painfully went down on one knee. "I'm sorry," he started again.

"Both knees," said Severus sharply.

Black winced as he put weight on his other knee. Severus wondered idly if Lupin had injured him in some mad fit of werewolf rage.

"Now, begin again."

Black repeated his little speech.

Severus considered asking for it with the other lying prostrate, but decided to let it go. He would always have this moment. "You may rise," he said.

The expression on Black's face was gloriously sullen as he got to his feet.

"And if there is any retaliation for this," Severus warned, "full details of what you tried to do to me go straight to the _Daily Prophet_."

Black actually blanched. "You wouldn't," he said. "This is about me, don't drag Remus into it."

"As if he weren't involved." Severus looked down his nose at Black, which took some doing, since he was seated and Black was standing, but he managed it. "You cannot convince me that he knew nothing of this plan."

"Maybe not." Black lifted the Privacy Spell. "But it's the truth."

He turned and walked away, limping on his right leg.

Severus allowed himself a genuine smile, since no one was around to see him.

_Sirius Black, on his knees begging for my forgiveness. _

_Which I never actually granted him. _

_Nothing can ruin this day. _

He rose to leave the library and stopped at the sight of the person standing in the doorway.

"We need to talk."

* * *

(A/N: What is it with me and cliffies these days? Might I be trying to soften you up for a big one to come? And what does everyone think about pink plastic cups? Let me know – review! Oh yeah, I disclaim the one OotP quote in this chapter.) 


	11. Chapters 8 and 9: Catching Up

Chapters 8 and 9: Catching Up

Severus spread his hands. "Talk, then."

"He's not happy," said the figure in the doorway. "You told me, if I did this, he'd be happy."

"I told you nothing of the sort," said Severus bluntly. "You asked me questions, and I answered them. I said nothing about anyone's happiness or unhappiness."

"You implied that this would please him."

"You inferred that. I did not imply it."

"Oh, say what you like," the other snapped. "I have what I want now. I don't need you anymore. Here." A bag left the figure's hand and struck the table beside Severus, giving off the musical chink of gold. "For your services, as was agreed."

Severus picked up the bag, weighing it in his hand. "There is more here than was agreed upon," he said with a frown.

"For your silence."

Severus lifted an eyebrow. "My silence."

"It is illegal, after all."

"True enough. Very well, my silence. You have it."

_Unless it should become necessary for me to speak,_ he amended silently as the other, with a curt nod, turned and left.

After all, he and the other served different masters entirely.

* * *

Dumbledore called James, Sirius, and Peter to his office a few days later. None of them had any doubt it was about the events of the full moon night, and how they had come by their injuries. They decided it was better to come clean freely than to wait for him to get it out of them, as no one had any doubt he would. So they confessed to becoming illegal Animagi, and demonstrated there in Dumbledore's office. 

"This explains a great deal," the Headmaster said, smiling placidly as Prongs turned human again with a small popping sound. "A very great deal. And simplifies several matters enormously. If there are any further incidents with werewolves being seen on the grounds, matters will, of course, be out of my control. That is all."

"Did he just give us permission to keep visiting Moony and Selene?" asked James outside the office door. Peter had suggested the nickname for Evanie, calling her his goddess of the moon, and once she had gotten done blushing, she had agreed.

"Yeah, I think he did," said Sirius. "Basically, he said 'don't get caught.'"

Peter smiled. "I like that."

"He's awesome," said James as they made their way down the spiral staircase. "Totally awesome."

* * *

Life was hectic. Aletha was the only one of the group not affected by the rush to study for O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. March, April, and May passed in a blur, marked only by three full moons spent more or less quietly in the Shrieking Shack. 

To everyone's surprise, the incident with Regulus might never have happened. The fifth-year Slytherin seemed to have told no one what had happened – Dumbledore's orders, of course – and ignored his brother as determinedly as ever. The Marauders and Company (as they had begun referring to themselves) were just as happy. Regulus Black was not good company at the best of times.

"He thinks it's funny to be rude," said Sirius at lunch one day. "Not just joking, like we do. Really, out-and-out rude. And my mum and dad would let him get away with it, as long as he was doing it to someone with lower social status."

"Like their less favored but inconveniently older son?" asked James.

"Their now disowned, so no longer inconvenient, older son, yes," said Sirius. "I hope he joins the Death Eaters and gets himself killed. Little sod."

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was taking his usual nightly walk around Hogwarts, making sure the castle was safe and secure, when he became aware of a presence beside him. 

"Lady Maura," he said quietly.

The woman smiled at him, causing the faint glow which radiated from her to brighten ever so slightly. "Becoming formal in your old age, Albus."

"It gives me more time to consider what I shall say."

"Indeed. May I walk with you?"

"I never refuse a lady."

They covered a short distance in silence.

"The castle will be attacked," said Maura finally. "But Voldemort will have given the Death Eaters orders not to kill."

"Is this meant to reassure me?" asked Dumbledore dryly. "I rejoice that none of my students will be killed, but Tom would only issue such an order if he wished to take hostages. Or prisoners."

"Prisoners. He recently obtained the services of a skilled scryer, and gave the man incentive to scry forward in time and see what, or who, stood in his way."

"And, having found certain people there, he wishes them removed."

"Precisely."

"Are all of these people students?"

"No, but the most crucial ones are. The rest are peripheral and can be easily dealt with later."

"I see."

They passed Professor Vector, who nodded a good evening to Dumbledore but completely ignored the tawny-haired woman on his right.

"What choice awaits me?" Dumbledore asked when Vector was out of earshot.

"You can intervene as these students are being captured and free them. Your power will overwhelm all their captors easily – Voldemort will not be present himself. Or, you can be elsewhere at that time, and do nothing to save those particular students."

"Would my presence elsewhere help to save others?" Dumbledore had learned, after over a hundred years of practice, to hear what Maura, or her brother, or their father did not say. Often it was because they could not volunteer the information, but had to be asked.

"It would."

"May I know who the students in question are?"

"No."

Sometimes, of course, they simply could not tell him things.

"Very well. No because I should not know, or because I have enough information to figure it out myself?"

"Yes."

And then there were the times when they were just obscure on purpose. It was a habit Dumbledore had picked up himself over the years, but it was still highly irritating to him in others.

"Do the students in question have a chance of saving themselves?"

"There is always a chance. But you wish to know if they have a better than average chance."

"Yes."

"They do. The group possesses several special skills, besides the ability to work as a team. Should they not succeed in escaping, they will damage the Death Eaters greatly before they are killed."

_Reducing people to the level of things, counters on a board, markers on a map. Calculating numbers and cold-bloodedly deciding who we can best afford to lose. Being forced to deny help to some to save others. _

_I hate war. _

"Where is it that I must not be?"

"The west side of the castle. Is your decision yet made?"

"It is. I shall provide no help to the students in question. So I speak, so I intend."

"And so let it be done."

They had arrived at the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's office. "Peanut Poppers," said Dumbledore a bit wearily. "Sherbert lemon, Maura?"

"Yes, thank you."

They arrived at the top of the staircase. Dumbledore opened the office door, crossed to his desk, and took one candy for himself, handing another to Maura. "You know what I plan to ask you next."

"The same thing you always ask."

"Yes." _How many innocent lives have I just sworn to end? How many to ruin utterly? How many to condemn to hours, days, weeks of terror and long years of recovery? _

_What will the consequences be?_

"And, by our agreement, I will tell you."

_I sometimes think Aberforth got the better part of our deal, asking for the ability to do what he pleased and not care about the consequences. But I could never live in that way. I do care – too much, perhaps. _

_And so I asked for the ability to know the consequences of the choices I made – and the ones I did not make – so that I might compare them, and choose better in the future. _

_Perhaps even the very wise cannot see all ends. But I see more than most. _

_Often, too often, far more than I wish to._

"Had you chosen to aid those students, two of them would have died from miscast spells. Two others would have been heartbroken and fought so recklessly in the war that they threw their lives away to no good purpose. The rest would have survived, mourned, and gone on. Voldemort would have fallen, but far in the future, with many more lives paid."

_Voldemort fallen? But that suggests..._

Maura's smile flared like a suddenly-stoked fire. "But since you have chosen not to..."

A great sense of contentment settled over Dumbledore as he listened.

_After a hundred-and-some-odd years, it seems I'm finally getting the hang of this._

* * *

The final Quidditch match came in June. Sirius had been reinstated on the team due to several months of good behavior, so he and Aletha showed off their Beating skills to the screaming crowd as James led the Gryffindor side to an overwhelming victory, two hundred ninety to thirty. 

"Even if Ravenclaw had got the Snitch, we still would have won," said Remus for probably the thousandth time later that night. But no one minded hearing it again.

The Marauders and Company were sprawled on couches and chairs in the common room. Most of the House had given up on partying and gone to bed, since it was two in the morning and testing started in a week. But the seven of them were still up.

And one more.

Danger Granger was sitting nearby, not quite a part of their group but not totally separate from them either.

That seemed to be her usual position lately, Remus mused, looking at her profile as she bent over her book. She was always somewhere close to them, but almost never involved in anything they did. She still chatted and laughed with the girls, but let one of the Marauders approach her and she turned into a centaur – understandable but cold and distant. It was almost as if she were embarrassed by something.

_But what has she got to be embarrassed about?_

_And why doesn't she ever look at me?_

Even as he thought that, Danger's head turned slightly, and brown eyes met blue. Remus felt himself tense, forced himself to smile, and realized too late how fake and stupid it must look, as Danger gave him a half-smile in response and turned back to her reading.

_This is not fair. _Remus looked back at the rest of his friends. Sirius lay with his head in Aletha's lap, her hand stroking his hair as she sometimes stroked his Animagus form's fur. Peter was sketching something on a spare piece of parchment, with Evanie watching him in fascination. And James was recounting the most exciting moments from the match yet again to Lily, who was listening tolerantly.

_I want that. I want what they have. What cruel fate decided that I shouldn't have it?_

For one instant, he allowed himself to think that way –

_Stop that now,_ said the expected voice – rather like his mother's, it was, firm without being mean. _Count your blessings, Remus John. You have friends, reasonable health, you're getting a fine education, there's even the possibility that you could go into the work you want. McGonagall said she'd do everything she could to help you become an Unspeakable, and Dumbledore would put in a good word for you as well. You have loving parents, a safe home, a good mind – and you're complaining that you can't have one more thing?_

Remus let out a sigh of frustration. _I suppose I do have more to be thankful for than not to._

_Exactly. So think about the fine things you do have, and don't cry for the moon._

Remus smiled ironically. _Trust me, I don't. Ever._

He got up. "I'm going to bed," he said.

"Good night," said a chorus of voices.

Danger's was not one of them.

Remus climbed the stairs to his dorm, willing the thought beating in the back of his mind away. But it wouldn't go. Finally, when he was lying in bed staring at the hangings, he gave up and let himself think it.

_Danger's not just one more thing. _

_She's everything I've ever wanted._

_And I'm just too cowardly to tell her the truth._

_But I'm not supposed to be cowardly. I'm a Gryffindor, damn it! We're supposed to be brave! _

_All right. Tomorrow. I'll tell her tomorrow. _

And with this resolved, he had no trouble falling asleep.

* * *

"Letha?" 

"Hmm?"

"Do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Ask Danger to meet me in the Charms classroom at four o'clock?"

Aletha looked at Remus for a long moment. "All right," she said, a subtle smile touching her lips. "I'll tell her."

_No going back now. I'm committed. _

The morning classes flew by, the afternoon dragged. Remus had to force himself to stop checking his watch in Transfiguration after he realized he was looking at it every thirty seconds. Finally, after what seemed like an entire year in itself, McGonagall dismissed them as the bell rang.

"See you at dinner," said Remus casually to the other Marauders. "I have some business."

"Best of luck," said Sirius, lifting an eyebrow.

"Go wash your mind out."

It was three-forty-five, he was going to be early, but better early than late, Remus thought. He started to open the door and stopped. There were already people inside. And they were talking.

"... you actually thought I liked him?" A laugh, clearly recognizable, even through the closed door. "Oh, Letha, I thought you had more sense than that!"

"I did," answered Aletha's voice. "But you played it so well, I was almost convinced, even though I knew what you were really doing. Does he know?"

"That I don't like him? I should hope so – I've been at pains enough to show the entire school." A shifting sound, then footsteps. "Did Remus really ask me to meet him here?"

"Yes, and I'd better leave. It sounded like he wanted to talk to you alone."

Danger laughed again. "Me and him, alone in a room. I wonder what we'll find to do together. I could always ask him to give me some tips about surviving O.W.L.s..."

Remus had heard enough. The mocking tone in Danger's voice was piercing every defense he had.

He turned and ran, her words following him mercilessly.

"_You actually thought I liked him? I thought you had more sense than that."_

"_... I don't like him... I've been at pains enough to show the entire school..."_

_Why should I offer her my heart, if she's just going to hand it back perforated with witty comments? _

_Snape can have her. I wish him joy of her. She's no prize. _

He wished he could believe it. He almost believed it. But one part of him kept refusing to believe, kept insisting there was another way to take her words. They kept him up most of the night, fighting it out. By morning, they had resolved nothing.

And he still had to go to class.

* * *

By exercising every bit of control he had ever learned, Remus made it through his N.E.W.T.s without thinking too much of Danger. It helped that he was a quick writer – he could answer a question, agonize for a moment over her, then answer two more, then agonize a little more. 

Even James' usual good humor was dented by the famous Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests. Peter's hairline seemed to be receding, and Sirius joked that he must be either pulling it out or losing it from nervousness. This went on until Lily raided the boys' dorm and found an empty bottle of Hair Loss Hot Sauce under Sirius' bed, which he claimed James had planted there to frame him.

The night after the N.E.W.T.s were over, Sirius, James, and Peter invaded the kitchens and got roaring drunk. Remus opted simply to watch – losing control was not his idea of a good time.

As his friends tried to maintain something approaching harmony in a bawdy song involving a hippogriff, a maiden, and a vampire, Remus thought about his future.

_If I get the grades I need, I might make it into the Unspeakable program. And then again I might not. It all depends on whether or not they're willing to hire a werewolf. I'd work extra hours to make up for any time I might have to miss, and I'd even be willing to come in on transformation nights. They could see if it's really true that no spell or potion works on a werewolf – though I hope they'll skip the Unforgivables._

A werewolf, being a magical creature, was largely immune to magic. Only physical attacks worked. Silver was not necessary to kill one – a normal bullet or knife would do just fine – but silver made almost any shot or strike lethal, poisoning the werewolf within seconds.

_And why am I thinking of that? Morbid much, Remus?_

But it would be nice if potions worked on him, Remus thought. Then he could take a Sleeping Potion beforehand and simply sleep through the transformation.

_Maybe someday. For today, there's free food, free entertainment, and no more tests. _

He waved to catch a house-elf's attention. "Another butterbeer, please," he said. "And another slice of that excellent cake."

The creature blushed. House-elves liked being complimented as much as anyone, Remus had found, but one had to praise their work instead of them. They weren't built to accept compliments in and of themselves.

It wasn't until much later that he realized he had spent an entire evening without thinking of Danger once.

_Maybe I'm getting over her. _

* * *

30 June, 1977, was a Thursday. It was also Remus' last day as a student at Hogwarts. His ride on the Hogwarts Express the next morning would be his last. He was done with school. 

_So why aren't I excited?_

James and Sirius had been preaccepted into the Auror program, contingent on their test scores, and their excitement was palpable. Peter had obtained a job at a small magical bookstore in Wales, courtesy of Evanie's father Mr. Mead, who owned the place. Lily planned to volunteer at St. Mungo's for a year before making a final career decision – she wasn't sure if she really wanted to be a Healer, or just train as a nurse or mediwitch, like Madam Pomfrey.

Remus hadn't heard back from the Department of Mysteries, though he had made sure to have all his paperwork in on time. He had a bad feeling about this.

_What am I going to do if this falls through?_

And Dumbledore had asked to see them all in his office before the train left in the morning. Remus thought it might have something to do with Voldemort and the war.

_Dumbledore wouldn't just sit on his hands. He has to be doing something against Voldemort. Maybe he wants our help. _

_I hope he does. _

The feast that night was just winding down when a loud screech startled Peter into dropping a full pitcher of pumpkin juice into his lap. "They're here!" shouted Peeves, appearing over the Head Table. "At least a hundred, on all sides, passing the wards now!"

"A hundred what?" asked Evanie in bewilderment.

"Death Eaters," said Aletha grimly. "The castle's under attack."

All around the Great Hall, people were coming to the same conclusion – voices were rising to fever pitch –

Three loud bangs restored silence. "Fourth years and below will return to their dormitories immediately," said Dumbledore loudly. "Fifth, sixth, and seventh years, and teachers, remain here until the younger students have left, then assemble in the entrance hall. Please move briskly."

"You don't think he means us to fight, do you?" Remus heard a sixth year Ravenclaw ask his neighbor. "My parents would never stand for it."

_And you're supposed to be the smart ones._ Remus rolled his eyes. _Your parents would "stand for it" a hell of a lot less if you got killed because Dumbledore couldn't defend the castle adequately._

"Albus, I thought you had reinforced the wards," Remus heard Professor McGonagall say as they waited in the hall for the few stragglers who had been elsewhere than the Great Hall for the feast.

"I did, Minerva. The wards should repel all those who mean to kill any student in this school."

"Kill only?"

"Had I broadened it to include any sort of harm, half the students themselves would have been kept from the grounds. Harming others seems in some way intrinsic to human nature."

_Human nature – are we evil or good, or a mixture of both, or good but fallen, or good but corrupted..._

Remus shook his head sharply. _If I don't start paying attention, I might wind up with all of eternity to think about this stuff in. _

_And heaven may be great, but I'm not eager to get there yet. _

"Teachers, the main attack force is advancing from the rear of the castle, so we shall gather there. Students, kindly raise your non-wanded hands."

_Always has to be different, Padfoot does. Not like he had a choice, though._

"If your hand is orange, please defend the left side of the castle. White, the right. Purple, the front. Try to keep the attackers from reaching the walls. Use any non-lethal hex or jinx you can."

Remus looked at his purple left hand._ The front, then. _

"Do not forget to tie your opponents after you have laid them low. And do not expose your backs to them, for any reason." Dumbledore paused for a moment, looking out over the group of students, and Remus felt oddly exposed, as if the Headmaster were looking directly at him. "Good luck."

Remus caught sight, through the crowd, of Danger heading his way. Her left hand glowed dimly purple.

"Good luck," she said when she was beside him, and held out her right hand.

"Good luck," Remus answered. Her hand was as warm as it had been the day he introduced himself to her, but rather more damp than it had been then.

_No surprise. She wasn't about to risk her life on a battlefield then. _

Sirius and Aletha were next to them now, and Peter and Evanie, and James and Lily were coming through the crowd –

"Are we all purple?" asked Evanie in surprise.

"So it would seem," said James. "Ready for some action, Padfoot?"

Sirius' feral grin, the one he wore before full moons and Quidditch matches, flashed out. "Ready."

Aletha was thin-lipped and grim, Lily very pale but resolute. "Let's do it," said the redhead, and led the way out the doors of Hogwarts.

The setting sun shone into their faces like fire as they found places in hiding along the castle wall. "This is stupid," complained Peter as they settled in. "The attack's from the other direction – we won't see any action over here!"

An explosion went off three feet in front of them.

"Wormtail?" said James over the screams and return fire from their side. "Shut up."

Death Eaters materialized in front of them – they must have used Portkeys, Remus thought, you couldn't Apparate at Hogwarts – but that didn't matter now. What mattered was taking them down.

* * *

Sirius was throwing hexes, anything he could think of to slow them down. Disarming Spells worked marvelously, but were easy to block. The joking hexes he and James so loved – Jelly-Legs, Leg-Locker, and the like – would slow the Dark wizards down, but not stop them from cursing the students. And for the life of him, Sirius had never been able to get off a good Body-Bind. 

Aletha had no such trouble.

She was picking off the front ranks with remarkable regularity, but she was handicapped by her position. The arm movement for the Petrificus had to be wide and sweeping, and her wand kept catching on the castle wall behind her. Finally, Sirius caught her eye and waved her over to his position – there was more room where he was, she'd be able to cast better.

Aletha sized up the situation, then nodded, and came across the space between them at a crouching run.

Sirius saw the curse speeding towards her, tried to throw one of his own to block it –

And missed.

The red jet of light struck her and knocked her flat.

"_Accio Girl!_" he heard someone shout.

_NO!_

Sirius threw himself out of cover, catching at Aletha's limp ankle as it shot past him –

The shock ended the spell with a mild backlash, throwing the unconscious sixth year into his arms. Sirius scuttled backwards as quickly as he could, dragging her with him, knowing he must look like a fool but not caring –

He'd made it. He was in cover. Vaguely, he noticed that James and Lily, who'd been sharing the space with him, had left. Someone else was in their place, shooting curses at the Death Eaters.

He propped Aletha up against the rock they were hiding behind. "Know any Healing spells?" he asked the dark-haired boy, catching his breath.

The boy turned to him with a smirk. "Just one, brother dearest. _Stupefy._"

* * *

"Did they make it yet?" asked James. "I'll fight, you look." 

Lily poked her head around the corner of the bush they were now using for cover, having abandoned the rock to get a better angle from which to defend Sirius. "They're back," she reported. "She doesn't look bad – he's sitting her up – he's – OH MY GOD!"

"What?" demanded James.

"YOU SLIMY WORM!" screamed Lily, leaping to her feet. "WHAT SIDE ARE YOU–"

"Get down!" James yanked Lily back down behind the bush just as two spells impacted with the wall where her head had been. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Regulus Black just Stunned Sirius!"

"_What?_"

"He's right over there – look–" Lily pointed, and James squinted through the smoke.

There was no one behind the rock. Not Sirius, not Aletha, not Regulus Black. James frowned. That wasn't right. Where could they be, if not there?

"BEHIND YOU!" Remus shouted from down the field. James spun just in time to see the white mask and black cloak of a Death Eater turning away from Lily's unconscious form.

He blocked the man's spells handily, if not easily – they were powerful, pushing him back a pace every time, but none of them were getting through –

It wasn't until the spell hit him from the side that he realized they hadn't been meant to.

* * *

The Death Eaters were throwing things now, little glass balls full of potion that shattered on impact. Some of the potions burned whatever they hit – some of them released stunning or paralyzing vapors – Peter had avoided getting hit by potion or flying glass so far, but it was close. 

"I'm going to try to get over there!" he shouted to Evanie over the noise of the battle. "I might be able to steal some of their weapons!"

Evanie nodded in understanding, and Peter stowed his wand away and transformed. No one noticed a rat running across the field of battle, and it was a simple matter for him to locate the stockpiles of potion balls. He popped in and out of rat form to avoid being noticed, stuffing balls into his pockets in his moments in human shape – anything not confined somewhere on his person wouldn't transform with him – and scurried back across the field when he had a full load.

The students actually managed to drive the Death Eaters back several paces throwing the balls. Peter was just reaching for another one when he felt a burning pain in his shoulder.

"You're on fire!" Evanie screamed, and dove at him. He fell sideways, shattering the last stun ball.

She might have saved herself if she hadn't put out the flames on his robes with her wand before trying to run.

* * *

Remus hadn't seen what had happened to James after he'd warned him of the Death Eater behind him – smoke had billowed up and blocked his view. Besides, he was busy enough holding off the attack on himself. For some reason, the Death Eaters seemed intent on him. He'd already caught and thrown back three burning potion balls, and thought in some remote recess of his mind that he might have made a decent Seeker if only he flew a little better. 

He could just see Danger from where he was. She was sticking to the simpler spells, the ones that didn't need as much power. James had tagged her right those years ago, she wasn't a heavy hitter. Her strengths lay in accuracy – when she aimed for someone, he went down – and in sneaking her spells through weak spots in the Death Eaters' defenses.

_Speaking of weak spots, this is one. We need some more people over here – there's just her and me for at least fifty yards – _

Remus had just thrown back a fourth potion ball when a piercing sound caught his attention. It sounded like a whistle.

_What is that?_

The sound became louder, passing from oddity to nuisance, and quickly from there to painful. In a few seconds, Remus couldn't hear anything else, couldn't think, couldn't even move – his whole being was focused on holding his hands over his ears, willing the noise to stop –

And then his eyes happened to fall on Danger.

She, too, was huddled on the ground, hands over her ears, eyes shut and an expression of anguish on her face.

_I have to get to her –_

But his view was suddenly wavy and wobbly, as if something not quite there was in the way –

The noise stopped. Danger's eyes opened, she was looking around –

She was tied hand and foot with ropes that flew from nowhere, directly between them –

Remus was on his feet in an instant, shouting the counter to a Disillusionment, he couldn't fight what he couldn't see –

The noise started again, sending him to his knees, his wand falling from his hand, unable to fight the spell that bound and gagged him.

"A wolf whistle," said a sneering voice from under the white mask when the noise had stopped. A long strand of blond hair had escaped the hood of the black cloak. "Highly useful for controlling lesser creatures such as yourself. I'm rather surprised the girl reacted – she must be more closely tied to you than our information suggested..."

Remus saw figures looming out of the smoke behind the man. His heart leapt – they might still be rescued –

His reaction must have registered on his face. The Death Eater spun around and swore, snatching Danger's bonds and yanking her roughly to him, throwing her against Remus. He snatched off his mask, and Remus recognized him – Lucius Malfoy.

_Why did he – _

But his question was answered in the next second, as Malfoy dropped the mask onto his head and Danger's, slammed his hand down on top of it – Remus felt Danger wince – and shouted "_Portus!_"

If there was anything more uncomfortable than regular Portkey travel, Remus thought, it was Portkey travel while tied up.

With one's face as the contact point.

_I think this now counts as the worst day of my life._

He landed on a hard floor, bruising several extremities, and several more when Danger fell on top of him. Malfoy pointed his wand at them. "_Diffindo,_" he said lazily.

Their gags split in the back. Remus spit the coarse rope out thankfully.

"Sorry," Danger muttered to him after getting rid of her own.

"For what?"

"Landing on you."

"It's all right."

Malfoy was gone, they were alone in the small, dark room. Danger looked around. "Wonder why they're letting us talk?"

Remus shrugged as best he could. "Don't know."

But he did, and the reason was making his heart even heavier than it had been before. People who could talk could scream. If they were being allowed to talk, that must mean there was no chance of anyone hearing them if they screamed.

_We're going to die. Both of us. Eventually. They'll probably torture us first – they consider that fun – _

_God, I'm glad they don't know about me. They could have so much "fun" with a werewolf and the girl he loves..._

There was no sense lying to himself now. He loved Danger. He had since that day at the Shrieking Shack – no, if he was being honest, he'd loved her before that. He wasn't even sure when it had begun.

_She deserves to know. Even if she can't stand me, I want her to know before we die. _

"Danger?"

"Yeah?" She looked at him, brown eyes alert and searching his.

"Remember how I had something to tell you around Christmas?"

"Yeah."

"I think I should tell you now."

"I think that might be a good idea."

_Even facing death, she keeps her sense of humor._ Remus smiled to himself. "All right. Here goes."

The door swung open with a chilling screech of hinges.

_What is it with me about to tell her things and doors?_

The silhouette in the doorway pointed a wand at them. Remus felt his bonds drop away, and saw Danger's do the same. "Get up," said Malfoy's voice. "You've been summoned."

Remus got to his feet as quickly as he could, ignoring the pain in his arms and legs from returning circulation, and offered Danger his hand. She took it, pulling herself up, and coincidentally – or was it, he wondered – bringing her ear close to his lips.

"I love you," he breathed.

Danger's foot slipped on a spare piece of rope, and she nearly fell. Remus caught her in his arms. She pulled his ear down to her own mouth – Remus' heart leapt –

"You picked a hell of a time to tell me."

Remus clamped down on his laughter, saving the joke for a time when nothing would seem funny. He suspected there would be all too many of them in his immediate future.

"Enough petting," said Malfoy disdainfully. "Get moving."

Remus refrained from glaring at the man, but mentally made a decision.

_I may have to do what you say. But I'll do it my way._

"My lady," he said. "Will you walk with me?"

He offered Danger his arm.

"I would be happy to, good sir." She laid her fingertips on it daintily, and they walked out of the room together.

Malfoy snorted in contempt and shoved them apart, one to each side of the passage. "Stay that way," he warned them. "Don't try anything."

_And what exactly would we be going to try? We're alone except for each other, and this is obviously your headquarters – we have no wands, no potions, nothing – what can we do?_

But Danger's pose was not in the least defeated. Her back was straight, her head up, and her eyes defiantly forward, although flicking towards Remus every now and again.

_She obviously hasn't given up. How can I?_

It was hard to find any reason for hope, though, with a faint red light flickering ahead of them, and Lucius Malfoy's wand at their backs.

* * *

_This is what I was afraid of._

Albus Dumbledore sat alone in an empty classroom. The Great Hall was being used as a makeshift infirmary. Dozens of students were wounded, it seemed no one had escaped unscathed. But that wasn't the worst.

Nine students were missing.

_Eight Gryffindors and a Slytherin. _

And he had a horrible feeling the Slytherin had gone wherever he had gone of his own free will, while the Gryffindors had not.

_Knowing the overall outcome does not help in the interim, while I wait to hear if those who now make history live through it or not..._

Someone knocked at the door. "Come in," he called, and blinked in surprise at the person who opened the door. "Severus?"

"Headmaster," the boy acknowledged him. He looked torn, Dumbledore thought, as if he weren't quite sure he wanted to be here. "Is it true there are people missing, sir?"

"Yes, several students are unaccounted for. Including one of your own Housemates."

"May I know who, sir?"

_It will be common knowledge soon enough._ Dumbledore began to recite the list of names, the list that was far too long, and that he had gone over too many times already in his own mind.

"Regulus and Sirius Black. James Potter. Peter Pettigrew. Remus Lupin. Aletha Freeman. Lily Evans. Evanie Mead. And Gertrude Granger."

Snape closed his eyes for a moment. "They were captured," he said, opening them. "Weren't they?"

"That is what we surmise, yes."

"Sir–" The boy looked straight at him. "I think I know where they may have gone. The Death Eaters."

"Really?" Dumbledore masked his surprise, and returning hope, behind his usual unflappable exterior. "How do you know this?"

The boy's shoulders went back in a defiant gesture. "I thought of joining them, sir," he said, the honorific sounding more like an insult. "I don't like Mudbloods."

"And yet you offer to lead us to one of their hideouts," said Dumbledore.

"You think I'm lying."

"I did not say that." In fact, Dumbledore could see that the boy was not lying. Snape possessed the skills to be a superb Occlumens someday, but he had not yet truly honed them. Dumbledore's Legilimency had penetrated the Slytherin's defenses and showed him the truth in the boy's intention – he really did want to help in a rescue. "However, may I ask why? There is no love lost between you and the missing students."

Snape looked away. "I owe Potter my life," he said in a snarl. "He is entitled to my help."

_The wizard's debt. A strange and unfathomable thing. _"Very well. I shall assemble some people, and we shall depart as soon as you and we are ready." Dumbledore rose, intending to make for his office and begin sending messages via Fawkes and his Floo fire.

"Sir?"

Almost out of the door, he turned.

Snape's eyes were fixed on his, almost pleading – a strange expression, from one usually so proud. "Try to save Granger," he said. "She was always... kind... to me."

Dumbledore gave a slow nod, then proceeded on his way, wondering if the rumors which had swept the school at the beginning of the year might not have had a bit more truth in them than even their subjects had guessed at first...

* * *

"Overdone, much?" muttered Danger as they were marched into a huge, round stone room with candles and torches mounted all around the walls, each burning blood red. 

"Quiet," snapped Malfoy.

_Just try and say she's not a Gryffindor now, James Potter..._

Secretly, Remus was hoping Danger's spunk would lead her to insult one of the Death Eaters so badly that he simply killed her on the spot.

_That would be best. Quickest. The Killing Curse doesn't hurt – at least that's what all the ghosts say – just a flash of green light and a sound like rushing air, and you're dead. It's over._

For himself, he had no illusions. Anyone could be broken – he could stand a lot of pain, he knew, he'd had practice, but he'd never before experienced pain inflicted by someone who liked inflicting it –

_Or have I? The wolf likes to hurt. And it likes to hurt me, the human me, for caging it up away from other humans. So maybe I have had experience with this..._

They had stopped in the center of the red room. "On your knees," said Malfoy silkily. "Bow before the Dark Lord of the world."

Neither Remus nor Danger moved.

"On your knees, filth!" Malfoy's spell hit Remus hard between the shoulder blades, and he fell forward, just catching himself in time with his hands. Danger wasn't so lucky, hitting her shoulder against the stone floor and suppressing a yelp of pain.

"That will do, Lucius," said a voice. High-pitched but definitely male, it was chilling in a way that resisted description, but Remus found one anyway.

_Like someone just replaced all my bones with ice. _

It couldn't be anyone but Lord Voldemort.

"So, the two young people I have most wanted to see," said the Darkest wizard in a hundred years. "You may rise."

Remus got up quickly and held out his hand for Danger. She squeezed it – in fear? In reassurance? He couldn't tell – before they both turned to face Voldemort.

Danger took an involuntary step back. Remus stayed where he was, forcing his face to stillness. It wasn't easy. The figure before them had obviously once been human. Just as obviously, it no longer was. Or at least not completely.

"You may be curious as to why I wished to see you," Voldemort continued.

"Not particularly," Danger cut in.

Voldemort's red eyes widened in surprise, and a small wave of gasps went around the room. Clearly, he was not used to being interrupted.

"Shall I gag her, Master?" asked a woman's voice, and one of the cloaked figures stepped forward.

Remus had to stop himself whipping around to look. _That's Bellatrix!_

"No, let her speak." Voldemort smiled liplessly in Bellatrix's direction. "She amuses me." He looked back at Danger. "I'm afraid you must resign yourself to boredom, dear child, for I am determined to tell you why I have brought you here."

Danger yawned ostentatiously. "Get on with it, then," she said on the tail end of the yawn.

_Dear God, Danger, stop this – it's not going to help anything – _Remus pressed her hand urgently, hoping he was getting through to her.

She shot him a look which said as clearly as words, _Mind your own business._

_You're going to get yourself killed – _

_No, really?_

"I have seen the future," proclaimed Voldemort. "Or rather, I have seen many futures. All of them possible from where we stand tonight. In some of them, I reign triumphant. Lord of magical Britain, then of all Britain, then, little by little, of the world – for what is time to an immortal?"

"What about the other ones?" said Remus, and instantly wished he'd kept his mouth shut. Voldemort looking directly at him made him want to collapse on the ground and beg for mercy. Only Danger's hand in his kept him upright.

"The others are not so pleasant," said Voldemort softly. "I win a few small battles, then am defeated by some great opponent. Or I win a few great battles, but am still defeated by some strange chance. Or I win all my battles – except the one with time. There are many paths to my defeat. But all of them hinge on certain people. Two of whom now stand before me."

_Us?_

_We're supposed to be instrumental in defeating Voldemort?_

_How?_

"In every future I saw where I was defeated, you were there," hissed Voldemort venomously, now circling them like a malevolent snake. "Together. Happy. Laughing and joking together. And in every future where I was triumphant, you were dead."

"So you think that killing us is going to make you win?" said Danger in a tone that suggested she couldn't believe her ears.

"No, dear child, I do not think so." Voldemort was in front of them again. "I know it. You, and several others – one, sadly, a relation of my friend Regulus–" He motioned to one side.

One of the smaller Death Eaters stepped forward and pulled off his mask. It was indeed Regulus Black, and he was smirking all over his face. "I'll be the only son soon," he said. "Just like Mother always wanted."

"Sirius Black and his Mudblood girl will die tonight," said Voldemort smoothly. "As well as James Potter and his. A certain ritual that I have always wished to perform calls for the participation of four young lovers, and I have never been able to use, for instance, Bellatrix and Rodolphus, or Lucius and Narcissa, because at the end of the ritual, the lovers must be dead."

_Dear God, I thought it was just us – how did he get all of them as well? _Remus became aware that Danger was pressed against him, and that his arms were around her, holding her up – it seemed the threat to her friends had unnerved her as threats to herself did not.

"And there is always power to be had from a simple sacrifice." Voldemort seemed to be contemplating something above their heads. "The Pettigrew boy will do nicely. Or perhaps he can be turned. His female, though – the bitch-wolf–"

Remus' heart skipped a beat, something he had thought only happened in stories.

_He knows about Evanie – _

_He has to know about me – _

"Those worlds where I am defeated show her dead. So, naturally, she must live. But in a form which will cause less trouble than her human one – a form I believe you are quite familiar with, Remus..."

His name was spoken slowly, with the final S held like a snake's hiss. Danger's arms were around him now, he was clutching her hand tightly, wishing with all his heart that he could wake up and find it was only a nightmare –

"A spell I have recently invented," said Voldemort, reaching into his robes and drawing out a wand, stroking it with his long white fingers meditatively. "Or is that discovered? Do spells exist before they are thought of, I wonder? No matter – it is new, and it is mine. And it is designed to do two things. First, to change a werewolf into his, or her, animal form. And second, to bind that werewolf there. Permanently."

Danger's grip on his hand was crushing his fingers, but Remus didn't care – the pain was giving him something to concentrate on, something other than the words he was hearing –

"So I erect shields, like so–" One white hand gestured negligently, and walls of pulsing, bilious green energy sprang up around Remus and Danger. "Tuned to allow through only my one spell, and then to ward off all spells and physical attacks. After all, what use would you be if you savaged my Death Eaters? I want you attacking my enemies, not my followers."

"It's all right," Danger murmured close to his ear. "Really, it is."

"Thanks," said Remus under his breath, unsure whether he meant it or was being sarcastic.

_She's trying to make me feel better... but this can't possibly be any farther from all right..._

"The spell is untested, you see," Voldemort went on. "So I would rather have you confined. And give you something to attack before your pitiful rescue party arrives – oh, yes, you haven't been forgotten. But I rather doubt they will find this place in time to save either of you – the one from death, the other from a living hell..."

"Get away from me," said Remus, trying to push Danger off him. "Get away – try to stay away – you might be able to stay alive until they come–" He knew she couldn't, but he had to try to give her hope, she couldn't die despairing –

But she wasn't – she was smiling –

"I told you it was all right," she said, not loosing her arms from around him. "I meant that."

"You're in danger from me!" Remus exploded.

Danger lifted a lazy eyebrow. "How can I be in myself?"

"My patience is wearing thin, children," called Voldemort mockingly. "Release him, girl, unless you wish to be transformed along with him – and since you are no werewolf, the transformation would kill you, and rather painfully. He may be more merciful."

Remus tried once more to pull Danger's hands off him –

And they came.

"If you want me to go, I'll go," she said, stepping away from him, her eyes fixed on his. "But remember. If you need help, I'm here." Her mouth quirked. "In case you need help from a furry midget."

_I can at least go out smiling. _

Remus looked back at Danger and opened his heart, letting everything he felt for her show on his face.

_I love you so much. _

_Forgive me for what I'm about to do._

"_Bestia Saecula et Saeculorum!_" cried Voldemort.

A jet of white light – like moonlight – shot from his wand towards Remus.

In the instant before it struck him, something else did. From the side.

Something with four paws, gleaming teeth, long brownish fur –

_The wolf from the Forest?_

Everything was white –

And then it was dark.

* * *

(A/N: One immense chapter for my lovely readers! With lots and lots and lots of action and other fun things! Now, for such a long chapter, can I please have some nice long reviews? Please? Please... :crickets chirp: 

Sigh. Anyway, I hope you all like it. Topic for today is oil. And more long chapter tomorrow, if all goes as planned.)


	12. Chapter 10: Meanwhile

Chapter 10: Meanwhile

It was the little things he noticed first. Things like his ear itching terribly. Or someone breathing nearby.

He inhaled deeply, through nose and mouth, and got the scent of burned cloth, dust, and a faint whiff of something floral. Lavender, he thought.

A wisp of memory came back to him –

_Even wearing basic black Hogwarts robes, she seemed to float down the stairs. Or maybe it was that he wasn't looking at anything but her smile. The smile she kept for one person only. How was it that such a girl had become interested in him, little, insignificant him?_

_She posed at the bottom of the stairs, leaning her head over to one side. He knew what she wanted, and the common room was empty, so he could do it without fear of anyone making noises at them. _

_She giggled as he kissed her neck. "That tickles."_

"_You smell nice."_

"_It's lavender. My mum sent me a sachet from home – she said so she doesn't have to smell all my dirty clothes when I unpack." Evanie grinned. "But I sent everything to the laundry yesterday, so I'll just have two sets of dirties. Surprise her."_

Peter drifted reluctantly out of this very agreeable moment from before the feast into the present, which wasn't nearly so enjoyable.

To begin with, he couldn't scratch his itch, because his hands were tied behind his back.

And Evanie, he saw as he opened his eyes, was lying next to him, similarly bound and apparently still out. He recalled that she'd accidentally knocked him onto a potion ball while trying to put out a fire on his robes.

_I'm not that important. You should have run while you had the chance._

But obviously, she hadn't. And now they were both here, wherever here was. Peter had a feeling it didn't really matter, except that it would likely be the place where they both died. But he had a look around anyway.

It had the look of a place under construction, or renovation. A pile of boards lay in one corner of the room, and sawdust and other debris were everywhere. There were large holes drilled in some of the walls, near the floor, and a corner missing from the door.

Evanie moaned softly, getting all of Peter's attention. He pushed himself awkwardly closer to her. "Selene?" he called quietly. "Selene, wake up."

"Mmmm?" She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Wormtail."

His nickname had never sounded so good, Peter thought.

"What happened to us?" Evanie tried to sit up, failed, and frowned. "I'm – we're tied up!"

"Death Eaters," said Peter, squirming slightly and managing to get himself into a more upright position. "Death Eaters took us. Here, hold on." He rotated himself in place, using his feet, and leaned back until he felt the cloth of her robes under his fingers. "Try sitting up again."

With both of them working at it, Evanie was upright in a moment. Peter turned back around to face her. Her face was solemn. "We're going to die, then," she said quietly. "I'm a half-blood – you're–"

"Pure, but not by much. Three of my grandparents were Muggleborns."

"So they're going to kill us, aren't they?"

"Yes. Probably. For fighting back as much as anything."

"So what are we supposed to do? Lie down and let them walk all over us?"

"Or go over to their side. That's what they think, anyway."

Evanie snorted. "I'd rather die."

_That's a distinct possibility._

"Peter–" Evanie suddenly looked excited. "I have an idea. We could get away, we could escape!"

"How?"

"You can do it. You can change into Wormtail. Then the ropes won't hold you, and you'll be free. You can let me go, and we can try to sneak out..." She stopped. Peter was shaking his head. "Why not?"

"I can't, Selene." He hated telling her this, hated dashing all her hopes, but it would be crueler to hold out a false hope. "I can't transform when I'm scared. I never could. And I'm scared to death right now. There's no way I could change."

As he had expected, as he had known would happen, Evanie's face crumpled into lines of disappointment.

_I disappoint everyone. I've never really lived up to anyone's standards. Not even my own. _

_Maybe it's better for it to end this way..._

"Peter."

He looked up. Evanie was looking at him, with such a strange expression that he had to stare at her for a long moment before he figured it out.

Confidence. She looked confident.

"I know you can do it," she said. "I know you can save me."

Peter shook his head again. "Evanie, I'm no good at being a hero."

"Yes, you are," she said firmly. "You're my hero. And I'm not letting you be anything but good."

Disbelief and – could it be hope? – rose in Peter.

_I haven't disappointed her. She still believes I can do it. _

_And I can't let her down. _

_I suppose I have to do it, then..._

Peter closed his eyes and began to mentally recite the incantation he'd taken from the book on Animagus transformations – was it only two years ago? It seemed like so much longer...

As he thought the words, he imagined the changes in his body. The shrinking, the growing of the fur and the tail and the front teeth, the relocation of his ears and his nose –

There was one moment of pain, as his front paws were briefly in a place where no rat's front paws should be, but the ropes were tied far too loosely now, and a quick squirm freed him. There were only three more words to say – two – one –

"You did it!" cried Evanie's voice happily.

Peter opened his eyes to see his goddess looming far above him.

_I did it. _

_I really did it. _

Rats couldn't smile, but Peter managed anyway.

He scurried up to her and patted her knee with a paw. _Hold still,_ he was trying to communicate. _I'll get you loose. _

The ropes which bound Evanie were thick, but coarse material. Probably conjured, Peter thought, stopping to spit.

Definitely not proof against a pair of powerful gnawing teeth.

Evanie was free in less than fifteen seconds. Peter changed back, she turned to face him, and they held each other for one moment, saying silently everything they couldn't say aloud.

"What now?" asked Evanie when they let go.

_She trusts me to lead her. _

It was a heady feeling, and not one Peter was used to, but he throttled it back a bit.

_I have to be careful. I could get her killed if I'm not. _

_Or I could get killed myself._

But that was a secondary concern at the moment.

"We should see if there's anyone else here," he answered her. "We can't have been the only people taken. Then we should look for a way out. We can't count on being rescued."

Evanie nodded. "Because we don't know how the battle went." She looked faintly ill. "We might even have lost."

"Not with Dumbledore there," said Peter as confidently as he could. "He's too strong. But it might have gone badly even if we won. So we have to think in terms of being on our own."

_And, if we can't get out, taking as many of them with us as we can. _

But that he didn't say aloud. There was no point in scaring her.

"Reconnaissance first, then," he said instead. "I'd better do it – I can get places you can't."

"What should I do?"

"Good question." Peter thought about it for a moment. "Let me see something." He turned rat again and slipped out through the missing corner of the door.

It was a long, empty hallway, faintly lit by the occasional candle in a sconce on the walls. He ran down the hall, peering into the other rooms. All seemed empty, except for piles of building materials.

He returned to Evanie. "You can hide in one of the other rooms along here," he said. "I'll find a safer place as soon as I can."

"All right."

His goddess ensconced behind a pile of bricks, Peter took off running.

He was going to get her to safety, or die trying.

* * *

The wall looked funny. It was all fuzzy, and jagged, as if parts of it were missing. 

He blinked and realized that the "fuzzy" bit was due to his glasses being not where they should be.

_That's odd. Where are they?_

He tried to touch his face, to see if they'd just slipped down his nose, and couldn't.

_What the – I'm tied up!_

The battle came rushing back to him – pulling Lily back into cover, getting distracted by what she claimed she'd seen, spinning at Remus' shout just in time to see her go down at a Death Eater's wand –

_And then he maneuvered me out of cover. I'm such an idiot. That one's so old it remembers the Founding of Hogwarts – and I fell for it! _

He groaned in frustration at his own stupidity.

"Who's there?" asked a voice behind him.

James rolled quickly over, wincing as he squashed his hands somewhat, and squinted at the speaker, praying he was wrong with his identification of the voice. Black robes, white face, dark red hair...

His heart plummeted, landing in the vicinity of his knees. _I wasn't wrong. _

"James," said Lily, relief and profound unhappiness warring in her voice. "They got you too."

"Yeah. 'Fraid so."

"I think I see your glasses." Lily sat up and spun herself around by pushing her heels against the floor. "Hold on, I'll try to get them for you."

James waited where he was, watching her shape move along the floor awkwardly, then return. He rolled onto his stomach to turn his face as upright as possible, and in a few moments his glasses were perched on his nose. He felt like they were going to fall off again any minute, but at least he could see.

"Thanks," he said as Lily turned around again.

"Don't mention it." Lily's face, now that he could see it clearly, was tight with tension. "So, I know your dad is an Auror. Does he ever find people who were taken by Death Eaters?"

"Yeah. Sometimes he does."

"Ever find any live ones?"

"Once." James considered lying, but Lily was sharp – she'd catch him out and demand the truth. He might as well skip the intermediate step and just answer her questions.

"Who was it?"

"They didn't know his name. And he couldn't tell them. He was probably a Muggle, though. Acted like he'd never seen magic before." James hesitated, then decided to add the final detail. "He died pretty soon after they found him."

Lily nodded. Her face said she'd expected nothing else, but still didn't like it. "And... what about the others?"

"What about the others?"

"What had happened to them? Before they... died?"

"Why are you asking about this?"

"Because I want to know what's going to happen to me. I hate just sitting here, not knowing. Maybe if I know I can't do anything about it, but at least then I'll _know!_"

James shook his head. "No."

"No what? No, you're not going to tell me?"

He nodded.

"Why not!"

"A lot of reasons. First, it would take too long to tell you everything. Second, you'd be sick halfway through. Third, this means you're giving up." James scooted a bit closer to Lily."You can't give up. Not ever. That gives them an automatic win. There has to be something we can do – there's always something."

"Like what?" Lily laughed shortly. "Wandless magic?"

"Maybe." James pounced on it. _I have to keep her thinking positive. She'll go all despairing again if I don't. _"Can you do anything wandless?"

"No." _Idiot,_ her tone implied. _You should have known that._

"Nor can I. On my own. But maybe we can do it together."

"Together?"

"I read somewhere about combining magics," said James, taking a few words he'd heard his mother say once and running with them. "It said that brothers and sisters, or really good friends, or people in love with each other – like us – can sometimes combine their magics. In times of great need. And then they can do things they might not be able to do alone."

"Like wandless?"

"Yes. Like wandless. You're great at Charms – what's one you've always been able to do?"

"You mean one that might help us now?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." James grinned. _This is good, she's getting her sense of humor back. _

"_Incendio,_" said Lily certainly. "I can always do that one, even if I'm half asleep. Mum used to joke that I'd burn the school down one of these days."

"All right." James turned himself around the way Lily had done. "Grab onto my ropes," he said over his shoulder. "Then think _Incendio_ really hard. I'll do it too. The both of us might just be able to do it."

"I'll try." James heard the noises of Lily turning, then felt a small, cool hand interpose itself between his bound wrists.

_I was so making that up. _

_But what's the harm in trying?_

"_Incendio,_" he muttered under his breath, willing the ropes to burn. "_Incendio._"

"_Incendio,_" he heard Lily whispering. "Come on, _Incendio._"

_Fire. Anger is like fire. Maybe it'll help if I get her mad. _

"They can't do this to us," James began quietly, over Lily's repeated murmuring of the spell. "They can't take away everything we were going to have. Our house – you remember that little place in Godric's Hollow I showed you over Christmas? My grandparents lived there, it belongs to my family. We could move in as soon as we were married. And then children. I think a boy to start, then a girl, then a couple more boys, maybe twins. But Voldemort doesn't want us to have it. He wants us to die. He wants us to lie down and make it easy for him. Are we going to?"

"_Incendio!_" Lily hissed as if it were her answer.

"Damn straight!" James was getting angry himself – this wasn't how his life was supposed to go. He was supposed to have everything he wanted, or at least be able to get it by working for it. No damned jumped-up Dark moron with a fancy-dance name and megalomaniac tendencies was going to ruin his future with the girl he wanted to marry...

He yelped and yanked his hands apart, slapping at the flames on the sleeves of his robes.

"It worked!" Lily gasped.

"Sure did." James grinned.

_I'll have to remember that. _

He flexed his fingers – not too much damage there, he should be able to handle a wand, if and when he got hold of one. But first things first... "Hold still, I'll get you untied."

* * *

_What is it with waking up to people calling my name?_

"Sirius."

"Wha's wrong, Letha, m'I late for class?"

"Not quite." Aletha's voice sounded odd – as if she were clinging to control of it with her toenails and teeth, Sirius thought muddily. "What's the last thing you remember?"

He thought back. The battle – his calling her over to his hiding place – she'd been Stunned and Summoned, he'd caught her and pulled her back, he'd gotten them both back to cover –

"Regulus!" His eyes shot open.

"He must have Portkeyed us here," said Aletha, who was sitting a short distance away with her hands behind her back – tied there, Sirius realized, as he discovered his own were as well. "He woke me up to gloat a little. Apparently, he's just recently gotten a chance to get in with the Death Eaters. We're part of his entrance fee." She frowned. "He said he tried to use something else, but Voldemort said it wasn't enough."

Sirius expressed his feelings with one short, Anglo-Saxon word.

"Yes, I know what you'd like to do with me," said Aletha in a patient tone. "I'd like to do it with you too. But I'm afraid we don't have time right now."

Sirius couldn't help but laugh.

_What a wonderful girl I found. Captured by sadistic wizards, no chance of escaping, and she's still cracking jokes. _

_But wait. Maybe there is a chance. _

"Have you seen Regulus again?" he asked, sitting up with some effort.

"No. I haven't seen anyone since he left. He said he'd be back to take us to the ceremony."

_Ceremony. Not good. But if we never get there... _"He said it would be him?"

"Yes, I think so. Does it matter?"

"Hell yes, it matters." Sirius rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of the stiffness without his hands being free. "The little bastard owes me his life."

Aletha's eyes widened. "That's right, from February – and that puts him in your debt–"

"Wizard's debt." Sirius nodded. "If I can call it in on him..."

"We might have a chance." Aletha angled her head towards a corner of the room. "I was looking around. We may not have wands, but I see some very nice boards over there."

"A spot of head-bashing, eh?" Sirius put on an old lady falsetto, and got a laugh from Aletha.

The door crashed open. Regulus Black charged in and slammed it behind himself. "You," he said, pointing at Sirius with his wand. "Up. The Dark Lord wants to see you."

"What, now?" Sirius pouted. "But I'm not dressed properly."

"Shut up. On your feet."

"You're in no position to be giving me orders, Reggie."

Regulus gave a short, breathy little laugh. "No position? No position? I have a wand, you don't. You're tied up, I'm not. And my friends are all over this house, and yours aren't. Now get the hell up!"

"No."

Regulus' wand was pointing in another direction now. At Aletha. "Get up," he said nastily. "Or she gets a beauty treatment she'll never forget. Maybe a skin bleaching." He snickered.

"Regulus Alphard Black, by the power of a life debt owed, I conjure you to drop your wand," Sirius said in his firmest tones.

The wand fell from Regulus' hand. He stared at it, then at Sirius. "What the hell? I don't owe you anything!"

"Remember February? That dog that protected you from the werewolves?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"That was me. I'm an Animagus. I saved your sorry arse. And now I'm calling it in."

"Prove it," said Regulus, picking up his wand again.

"How?"

"Transform for me. Show me you're really the dog."

"I can't do it like this." Sirius wiggled his arms. Paws couldn't be put in such a position without major harm to the animal involved.

"All right." Regulus aimed his wand at Sirius. "This goes straight on her," he warned. "As soon as you're loose. Try anything, she's dead."

"I won't." Sirius braced himself.

"_Diffindo!_" Regulus had his wand jammed against Aletha's temple almost before the spell had left it.

Sirius sighed in relief as the ropes around his wrists split and fell off, and took a moment to rub the circulation back into his hands.

"Show me."

"All right already, hold your horses." Sirius reached inside himself. Romping with Moony, chasing Prongs and Wormtail, Aletha's hand stroking his ears...

He opened his eyes to a mostly-colorless world, with sounds magnified several times and scents at least a hundredfold. Regulus' face was devoid of emotion as Sirius changed back.

Finally he stood up. "I was never here," he announced. "I won't get here for another minute. I'll be coming around _that_ corner." He pointed to the left of the door.

Sirius nodded. "No tricks," he warned. "No telling anyone."

"No tricks." Regulus stared at him. "This cancels all debts between us, then."

"It does."

Regulus turned on his heel and left.

"What was that?" asked Aletha, staring after him.

"No time now – let me get you untied–" Sirius fell to his knees behind her, fumbling with the knots, which fortunately weren't complicated. "Come on, we have to be out of here before our minute's up–"

Aletha darted to the corner she'd noted as soon as she was free and grabbed two boards off the pile, handing one to Sirius as they ran out the door and around a corner to the right.

"What was that about?" she whispered to him as they ran.

"Reggie agreed to let us go in return for my saving his life. If anyone asks, you found a rough place in the boards and cut your ropes on it, then let me loose, and we got away ourselves. He was never there, we never saw him, none of that happened."

"Oh, so I get to be the hero in the made-up story?"

"If you want me to be, that's fine."

"No, I think I can manage it."

They rounded another corner and froze.

A figure in a white mask and black robes was staring at them.

Sirius shielded Aletha with his body, trying to push her back around the corner, but she wouldn't move. "Go," he hissed at her. "Run – I'll hold him off–"

"Aren't you a little short for a Death Eater?" asked Aletha.

The figure giggled. Death Eaters usually didn't giggle.

Nor did they take off their masks to reveal –

"Evanie!" Sirius sagged in relief, then realized the situation had actually just gotten worse. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Peter – he went out a second time and didn't come back – are you all right?"

"Yes, we're fine." Aletha was at the younger girl's side, examining her hands. "These are some nasty burns. How did you get them?"

"Peter's robes caught fire during the battle. I put them out with my wand, but my sleeve caught before I did, and my hands got a little burned."

"You probably won't be able to use a wand, then," said Sirius with regret. "Even if we had one you could use..."

"We do," said a voice behind him, making him jump.

"Wormtail!"

"Hey, Padfoot." Peter grinned, pulling two wands out of his robes. "Stole these out of spare robes I found lying around. I guess some of these blokes carry two."

"Not any more, they don't," said Sirius, returning Peter's grin. "You keep one, Wormtail. Selene, you feeling up to the other?"

Evanie examined her hands critically. "No," she said regretfully, shaking her head. "I'm really not. I'd just drop it, and that's no good."

Sirius sighed. "Rock, paper, scissors?" he said to Aletha. "Winner gets the wand?"

"Padfoot?" hissed a voice from around the corner.

"Prongs?"

"No, it's the Easter Bunny."

"Oh, goody. Do you have chocolate for me?"

"Save it, you two," said Lily, coming around the corner with James right behind her. "I'd say nice to see you, except... you know. Can I have that wand?"

"Sure," said Peter, handing it over. "What about Prongs?"

James rattled his pockets. "Prongs is fully loaded," he said. "Found some nice hefty chunks of brick. Ought to make some good dents in Death Eater skulls."

"Excellent." Sirius nodded. "So we're all here, then."

"All except Remus," said Evanie. "And Danger."

Aletha frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Well, we haven't seen them," said James. "And Moony hadn't been taken when I went down – he warned me about the bloke behind me, the one who took you out, Lily. Still, it does seem odd that we're all here and they're not..."

"Hold this," Sirius said to Aletha, handing her his board, and transformed.

He was back in human shape almost immediately. "They were here," he said. "Their scents are all along this corridor."

"Which way were they going?" asked Lily.

Sirius changed again, took a few sniffs, and pointed with his nose.

"That's our way, then," said James. "Stay close to the walls, everyone, and if you see something moving, hit it first and ask questions later. It's a lot more likely to be an enemy than a friend."

Peter changed and ran ahead to the corner. "All clear," he hissed, turning human again and waving them onward.

Sirius changed back to human and took his board back from Aletha. "One last game," he said to her. "Hit 'em hard and take no prisoners."

Aletha thumped her board gently against his in the Beaters' salute. "No quarter, no surrender," she answered.

Nerves stretched to their limit, the six young warriors moved through the headquarters of their enemy.

* * *

(A/N: So it's not a long chapter. But it's a chapter. I have to be up early tomorrow, so I have to go to bed early, so I don't have time to write a long one. And I might not have time to write one at all tomorrow... just a warning... but, then again, I always might. :cackle: 

And I did mean cooking oil, but it doesn't really matter. How about thunderstorms? How's that for a topic?

Oh, and don't get excited if you get an update note for LwoD tonight – I'm putting an A/N on it to explain about not updating until after HBP. Hugs!)


	13. Chapter 11: Revelations

Chapter 11: Revelations

He was floating, confused, disoriented. How had he gotten here? Where was here? And why couldn't he breathe?

_Underwater,_ he realized foggily. _I'm underwater – I have to get to the surface – _

_Follow the bubbles._ It was what his father had taught him when he was first learning to swim. Bubbles went up. Up meant air.

He exhaled slightly and watched the gleaming spheres move away from him – not the direction he would have thought was up, which was why it was necessary in the first place – he followed them, kicking as hard as he could, pulling with his arms, ignoring his lungs, which were demanding ever more strenuously that he breathe –

His face broke the surface. He gasped in air, getting a bit of water as well. As he spit it out, he noticed it was salty.

_Seawater. But it's warm – almost blood heat – I'm not cold at all..._

Pushing his hair back from his eyes, he looked around. The ocean lay wide around him, with a blotch of land to his left. He had seen that land before, but always receding in the distance, out of his reach. Now it was within swimming distance, and although a current was carrying him slowly away from it, he thought he might well be able to get there anyway.

Although it was full night, there was plenty of light around – the moon was up, shining brightly over ocean, land, and –

A choked cry pulled his attention farther out to sea. He wasn't alone.

Someone was caught in a much faster current than the one pulling him lazily out to sea – it looked like a riptide – and she obviously didn't have the first idea what to do. As he watched, she went under for a few seconds, before coming up flailing, obviously in distress.

_And I'm just sitting here, why?_

Thought suited to action, he was swimming towards her as quickly as he could manage, recalling as much of the water safety lessons as he could.

_I can't let her just cling to me – she'll push me under and we'll both drown. I have to get her out of the current, though – if I can convince her to swim with me, maybe help me along –_

He was in the current now himself, swimming with it, getting closer to her every second –

"Follow me!" he called to her, and saw her head whip around as she oriented on him. "Swim out of it, not against it! Like this!" He stroked perpendicular to the current, and felt a surge of relief as she awkwardly imitated him, swimming in his wake. She was coughing, he noticed worriedly, she must have inhaled some water, but getting out of the current had to take first place right now –

And then they were out, in peaceful water, no longer being carried farther from safety by the second. He swam over to her and supported her in the water with his hands, kicking his feet to remain in place, as she coughed up the last of the water she'd breathed.

"Thanks," she said finally, a bit hoarsely, turning to look at him. Her eyes widened. "Remus?"

"Danger?" Remus felt like a first-class fool for not having recognized her before –

_But I was a little busy trying to save her life. _

"How did we get here?" asked Danger, frowning at the seascape around them. "The last thing I remember is the Death Eaters and Voldemort."

"We can talk about it when we get to shore," said Remus, paddling slightly farther away from her, now that she seemed to be able to fend for herself. "Do you think you can make it?"

Danger squinted at the island, now farther distant than it had been. "I can try."

They swam with slow, easy strokes, trying to save their strength, but it was a longer way than Remus had thought, and Danger obviously wasn't used to long periods of physical effort. About a quarter of the way there, she had to stop to massage out a cramp in one of her legs, and by the halfway point, her stroke had slowed a lot. Remus slowed down himself, so as not to leave her behind.

_What am I going to do if she can't make it?_

Just as he thought this, some instinct prompted him to turn.

Danger was gone.

Remus took a deep breath and dove.

She was there, sinking slowly towards the distant bottom. She must have gone under just a few seconds before. Remus grabbed her wrist and towed her upwards, getting her face above the surface as quickly as he could, before she could inhale the water and drown.

_But what if she already did?_

Panic suffused him for an instant, until he saw her chest rise and fall. She was alive.

He hung there, treading water, and considered his options.

_I can let her go and save myself. Or I can try to get her to shore with me, and probably not make it with all the added weight. _

Drowning had always been one of his worst fears. He'd feared the water so much as a child that he'd been nine before he learned to swim. He hated the thought of his nose and mouth filling with water, water pressing in all around him, trying to crush him, forcing him to breathe it in and choke and die...

Danger stirred slightly beside him. "Wha'happened?" she mumbled.

"You're overtired," said Remus, making up his mind in an instant. _How could I let her die? I'd try to save anyone in this situation, and her of all people..._ "I'll get us to shore. Just try and hold on."

"A'right."

Remus turned around so that his back was facing her and reached over his shoulder to pull her onto himself piggyback style. _No one dies tonight,_ he vowed silently. _Not Danger, not me. We will make it to shore._

It was harder going with a passenger. He had to be careful not to kick her by accident, and to keep making sure she was still on his back – she had drifted into unconsciousness again, so she couldn't hold on herself. After a few minutes, he stopped and pulled off his robes, wrapped the soggy cloth around them both, and tied the sleeves together in front of him. It was better than nothing.

His arms and legs were screaming, his lungs felt as if they were burning, but the shore was closer than it had been, and Danger was counting on him. His world narrowed to the need to swim one more stroke. Just one – one – one – one –

His foot brushed something. Automatically, he looked down.

Sand. The beach. They'd made it.

Blinking back tears, Remus stumbled ashore and fell to his knees, Danger's weight on his back suddenly much greater than it had been in the water. He undid the knot with trembling fingers, and she fell limply to the ground beside him.

_We're alive. We made it. _

A wave washed up onto the beach, lapping at Danger's feet.

_But we have to get above high water mark. Drowning here would be just as bad as drowning out there. _

He found some remaining strength, somewhere, to lift Danger into his arms, blessing again whatever deity had decided to make her so small, and after a moment of thought pulled off her Hogwarts robes as well and let them fall. They'd only weigh her down, sodden as they were.

He made his unsteady way up the beach, until he could see by the marks in the sand that they were somewhere the waves never came. Then, and only then, did he carefully lower the girl to the ground, and collapse beside her, utterly spent.

The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was a peaceful face framed by frizzy brown hair, and the last thing he remembered thinking was what a nice sight it was to go to sleep to...

* * *

Danger roused with a convulsive gasp, flailing her arms wildly, trying to get to the surface. Then she felt stupid as she realized she was on land. 

_But how..._

Someone sighed next to her. She turned.

Beside her, on the sand, Remus Lupin lay asleep. He slept on his side, she noticed, curled up. The moonlight sparked off the one or two gray hairs on his head and washed all the color from his face. He looked like a movie star in a black-and-white film.

"I don't think I ever told you this," she said quietly, so as not to wake him. "Well, I know I never told you this. But I always thought you were the handsomest man I'd ever seen. Lily and Letha can talk all they want about James and Sirius – those two know they're good-looking, and to be honest, that takes half the shine off them. But you're modest to a fault, and that really enhances your charm. You have no idea what those eyes of yours have done to the witches in my year." She chuckled. "Or what they would have done, if I wasn't around and letting everyone know that you're mine."

It felt good to be saying these things. To finally be able to let it out. "I love you, you know. I think I have, at least a little, since the first time I ever saw you. When Letha pointed you out to me as 'the only one of those boys with anything resembling sense, or manners'. I teased her a little, when she started dating Sirius, about going out with a senseless, mannerless lout."

She shifted her position, looking up at the star-filled sky. "So I've been in love with you from the start. Finding out your secret... that took a little longer. Just knowing you had a secret, well, everyone in the school knew that. And I thought you were entitled to your privacy. So I spread it around that your mum was ill – if you wanted people to think that, I wanted to help you." She looked over at him again. "I've always wanted to help you."

Half of her wished his eyes would open and look at her, that he would repeat what he had said to her in the Death Eaters' lair – and how had they gotten from there to here, anyway? – but her other half was just as happy with him asleep. She'd have to tell him everything at some point; this could be considered a sort of practice run.

"I figured it out when Peter brought me that piece of the Animagus spell," she said finally. "I put that together with your disappearance at full moons and the way you looked after, and with the way you always looked mysterious and knowing when people would talk about the Shrieking Shack and the Whomping Willow, and a million other little things, and got my working hypothesis – Remus Lupin is a werewolf. Then I had to test it. So I went to your house over summer hols, the day after full moon."

She grinned. "I can't believe you never twigged that I always visited you the day after your transformations. I was thinking of coming a few other times, so as not to make it too obvious, but I don't think you ever caught on. You just thought... well, I don't know what you thought. I almost never know what you're thinking. You get your polite mask on, and the world passes by you without noticing that it's a mask. But I don't want to see the mask anymore. I want to see you, Remus. I want to see the real you."

She rolled over, stretching her legs out. "Once I knew, of course, I had to do something about it. I'd figured out by then that the other boys had become Animagi so they could be with you on your transformation nights. I decided I should do the same. I knew that had to be why you wouldn't kiss me at the Shack – or why you wouldn't kiss me more than twice, I ought to say. We did have those two. And they were wonderful." She sighed blissfully. "I've dreamed of that day so often. Sometimes I wish I had just told you that I knew right then. But then you might never have trusted me. And I do want your trust."

Something came to her, a hurt that wasn't yet healed. "And I want to know what's the big idea with standing me up before exams. I waited two hours in that classroom, and you never showed up. I wanted to see you so much – even though I know it didn't look like it, the way I'd been avoiding you for months..."

She felt her face heat up. This was one of the trickiest topics for her. "I have been avoiding you, Remus. But not because I don't like you. It's the other way around – I like you almost too much. I'd read that becoming an Animagus would have an effect on me, but I never expected this. That night in the Forest – when I howled, and you came – the wolf side of me fell so completely for the wolf side of you that I had to fight it tooth and nail to keep myself from doing totally unmentionable things with you. I still want to, even in human form. That's why I've been avoiding you – so I don't jump on you in public..."

Her face felt like it was afire. _Thank God he's asleep. I don't think I'll ever tell him this when he's awake..._

"Yes, I was the wolf in the Forest. That's my Animagus form. That's why I was telling you not to worry about hurting me – I can change as easily as Sirius or James can now. That's why I was always hanging around with Samuel Bevington – he was helping me do the partial transfigurations." She blushed again. "And, I suppose, I was partly doing it to make you jealous. I was always kind of hoping you'd come storming in and claim me as your own, instead of being so damned _nice_ all the time!"

She sighed. "And now I've gotten off track. Where was I? Oh, yes, Animagus. I needed help to make the potion, so I went to the best. Severus Snape. He doesn't care for Muggleborns, or Gryffindors, or the Marauders. But I used a little flattery and a little bribery – offered to help him learn to be an Animagus himself – and he went for it. That was where I had to go, that day you were going to tell me something, he'd come to tell me the potion was ready. You know, if he'd just thought, he could have changed forms that night at the Willow." She frowned. "Or maybe he couldn't have – I know I wasn't reliably able to change until at least a week after that..."

She shivered a little. The night was getting chilly. "I hope you know why I was so mad at you, that day you didn't do anything while James and Sirius cursed Snape," she murmured, looking around for her missing robes. "It was because I wanted to believe that you were better than that. That you were perfect. And I was blisteringly angry that you weren't. But I hope I made it up to you, at least in part. I did my best to make sure you'd have at least some company over the summer, and I stopped in to see you after your next transformation – you wouldn't wake up, they said, but you looked pretty up to me at dinner that night."

Her robes were nowhere to be seen. But there was a much closer source of warmth. And it would entail doing something she'd always wanted to do...

Gently, she lifted his limp right arm and lay down beside him, in the curve of his chest. "I fit here awfully nicely," she murmured sleepily. "Almost like I belong here. Wish I did."

Her eyelids were getting heavy, the beach was starting to tilt and the stars to whirl overhead...

"Thanks for saving my life," she whispered.

* * *

Guiltily, Remus opened his eyes and looked down at the mass of brown hair nestled against his chest. 

_I suppose I should have told her I was awake..._

But when he had heard her say that she considered him the handsomest man she knew, disbelief had held him frozen in his posture of sleep, and before he could find the words to announce himself, she had moved on, into things even more surprising than the first.

What she had said made sense, a lot of sense. It made sense out of a few things that had never made any sense to him before. Like that morning shortly after his O.W.L.s, after a rough transformation, when he hadn't wanted to wake up – it had been Danger's voice that had called him back to life. Just as it had been her howl that had called him away from Regulus Black.

But the most incredible thing of all, she'd said over and over again, never quite in the same way twice, but unmistakable.

"_I've always wanted to help you..."_

"_I want to see the real you..." _

"_I do want your trust..."_

_And she knows about me. She's always known. _

_And she became an Animagus, spent all that time, all that effort, just for me. _

He blushed himself, thinking of what she'd said about the time they'd spent together in the Forest.

_I suppose werewolves can have that kind of desire after all – it just depends on who they're looking at..._

There was only one conclusion he could draw from everything she'd said. And it was as wonderful as it was astonishing.

_She loves me. _

_She's loved me ever since we met. _

_Just like I have her. _

Danger sighed a little and pressed herself closer to him. Remus felt his face heating up in a blush – and it wasn't the only part of him that was...

"My turn to be glad you're asleep," he whispered to her. "I have a few things to tell you too. Like what I wish our lives could be like, now that I know you love me, and now that I know you could be safe from me."

He looked around at the beach where they lay, with the trees farther inland and the ocean on the horizon. "This place seems hospitable enough. I think it's an island, far out in the ocean, somewhere tropical. In the morning, we can go exploring together and find out. If it is an island, it's probably uninhabited. So we'll have it all to ourselves."

He began to warm up to his theme. "We'll build a house. Just big enough for two – there won't be any more, but I'm sure you knew that. We'll find some way to cope. We can hunt for food and plant a garden, and every night we'll watch the stars and make a wish on the shooting ones. Except full moons. We can go running together then, and howl all night if we like."

He looked down at himself, at his ripped T-shirt and faded pants. "Our clothes will wear out, but I'm sure you can make us more. I'll help, if you'll teach me how. And I'll teach you how to make music with whatever we can find or make. But none of that really matters. What matters is that we'll be together for the rest of our lives."

His eyes were closed, so that he could better see that blissful, impossible future...

"Would this be a bad time to tell you I'm awake?" said a small, wistful voice.

Remus stiffened for an instant. "Yes. Probably."

"All right. I won't tell you, then."

"Fine with me."

He felt Danger shaking with what he guessed was suppressed laughter. Experimentally, he chuckled slightly himself, and was rewarded with her infectious giggle. In a few moments, they were both laughing helplessly. The situation was just too funny – both of them telling all their secrets, each thinking the other was asleep.

"You're welcome," said Remus when he got his breath back. "For saving your life."

Danger nodded. She had rolled over so that she was now facing him, but she was still lying very close to him indeed, eyes turned up to his face, lips slightly parted in what Remus could only assume was an invitation.

He took it, bending his head down and pressing his lips to hers. She responded immediately, eagerly, and Remus felt a great rush of desire washing over him, threatening to sweep him away. It was an utterly glorious feeling, and he pulled away a few moments later with an effort.

"Mine," he said with an affectionate growl in his tone, running his hands through her hair. "All mine."

"Mine, and I'm not sharing," Danger chanted, sliding an arm around his neck. "Mine, mine, mine..." Her teeth flashed in the moonlight as she laughed for joy.

_Wait a second. _

Remus looked up at the moon. It was round and beautiful, hanging in the sky – perfectly round. Full.

"This doesn't make any sense," he said, carefully disentangling himself from Danger. "That's a full moon. I shouldn't be like this – I should be the wolf."

"And that leads back to my question, I suppose." Danger sat up, looking around her. "Where are we, and how did we get here?"

Remus followed her gaze, until his eyes rested on one of the mountains the moonlight was touching with silver. It was a double peak, unusual, distinctive.

_And I've seen it before..._

"I've been here before," he murmured, then frowned. "No, that's not right. I've never been here before. I've... seen this place before. But I've never been here."

"Here as in all of here, or here as in the island?"

"The island. I've seen the island, but I've never been on it before..."

And then suddenly he knew.

"I've dreamed of this," he said, standing up and looking out to sea. "I've dreamed of being in that ocean. But there was always a strong current carrying me away from shore, and I could never get here. I would fight it as long as I could, but there were rocks, and the waves were huge. They'd throw me around like a toy – most nights, I nearly drowned before I could wake up."

"Was this every night?" Danger's eyes were sympathetic.

"No, not every night, not even close. It was full moons, transformations–" Remus' eyes widened as the answer hit him. "Got it!"

"What?"

"I know what happened to us! We haven't gone anywhere – we're still exactly where we were!"

"We're on a beach," said Danger patiently. "There weren't any beaches in that house."

"No, we're not on a beach. Not really." Remus looked up at the sky. "I want it to be daylight," he said.

And it was.

Danger shielded her eyes with a hand, staring at him. "How did you do that?"

"This isn't real. We're inside my mind. Sharing a dream. That spell Voldemort hit me with must have done it – you jumped onto me just before it hit, it must have affected you too..." Remus trailed off.

_That spell was supposed to lock me into my wolf form. Forever. _

_What if it's done the same to her? _

"You shouldn't have done that," he said, suddenly horribly frightened for her, looking down at her where she sat, knees pulled up to her chest, looking rather younger than sixteen. "Why did you?"

"Try to knock you out of the way?" Danger gave him what could only be called the Look of Doom. "Let's see here. I have two choices. Stand still and do nothing while the only boy I've ever cared about, the one who not five minutes ago told me he loves me, gets changed into a savage animal forever and ever. Or try to do something to save him. If it had been the other way around, with me about to be transformed, what would you have done?"

Remus sighed in frustration. "You're right," he admitted. "I would have done the same. But I still say you shouldn't have."

"And I still say I did and it's done, so no use arguing about it now." Danger got to her feet. "So. This place is a dream. Is there a way to get back to the real world from here?"

"Wake up, obviously," said Remus. "But I don't know how."

Danger rubbed the knuckle of her thumb across her lips. "You've dreamed of this place before. Of being pulled out to sea, thrown against rocks. Are you afraid of the water at all?"

"Yes," Remus admitted. "Of drowning, very much."

"So this island would mean safety to you. A place you'd want to reach. Possibly... humanity? With the sea as your werewolf side, the part of you that you can't control?"

"That makes a lot of sense."

"Which means, if we're looking for a way back to our human selves, we should go inland," concluded Danger.

They both turned to look at the interior of the island. It was covered with what looked like thick jungle.

Remus looked back at Danger. "Up for some bushwhacking?"

"Oh, why not."

A little mental effort on his part gave them both more suitable clothes for the occasion, and tools to cut through the thick vegetation.

_If I'd only known it was a dream, I could just have willed us both to shore..._

But he wouldn't really have wanted to, Remus realized. Not if he'd known what their exhaustion would bring about.

_If I'd taken us straight to shore, we probably would have been all stiff and formal and never gotten anywhere. As it is..._

As it was, they were moving through the jungle together, now one in the lead, now the other, taking turns and changing places without really ever saying anything about it. It was just happening as it needed to.

Remus had heard Sirius talk about playing Quidditch with Aletha, and how the two of them sometimes seemed to be almost extensions of one person, that they could sense where the other one was. He had always thought Sirius was making it up. Until now.

_Aletha's his partner. Not just in Quidditch, in life. They know each other well enough to predict one another's moves and be where they need to be to back each other up. _

_I never thought that would happen to me. _

But it had, and Sirius was right. It was a marvelous feeling.

_I'm not alone any more._

He looked over his shoulder at Danger, who had stopped to sniff a flower on one of the trees.

_I never have to be alone again. _

The trek through the jungle seemed to take no time at all. Within a few minutes, they were walking up the slopes of the double-peaked mountain, which seemed to sit at the center of the island. The dark opening of a cave came into sight, and hand in hand they entered it, walking towards the back, where a red light flickered from the floor.

They stood at the edge of a small lake of lava. It looked boiling hot, but Remus felt no fear. If this island represented him and his mind, then this lava was the center of his being, everything he most centrally was.

"This is it?" asked Danger quietly.

"This is it," confirmed Remus. "I think we have to jump. I'll go first – don't come until I make sure it's safe."

"I won't." Danger leaned her head back and kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Remus released her hand, took one step forward, and leaped into the lava.

He sank into it quickly, deeper and deeper – he felt no need to breathe, no undue heat, nothing was wrong – everything was going dark, twisting around him, but it didn't hurt –

And he was looking at the dimly lit room where he had been before he was underwater, walls of sickly colorless energy around him, white Death Eater masks all pointing at him, as if they were staring.

_What're _you_ looking at?_

_Wait – it worked!_

_Good,_ he heard Danger's voice call from inside his mind. _Here I come. CANNONBALLLLLL!_

Remus snickered, and jumped a little at the odd sound of it. Almost like a bark...

_Come to think – those shields weren't colorless at all. They were green. And the light was red. Why can't I see that?_

He looked down at his hands.

Which were not hands.

_Holy – I'm in wolf form! _

_But I'm thinking. I'm reasoning. I have a human mind. A human mind – in a wolf's body – _

_Is that because Danger disrupted the spell? It was intended for one person, but it hit two – so maybe it's locked us into wolf bodies, but left us human minds... _

_I could think of worse things. _

_But I could think of a lot better ones too._

His side, which had been comfortably warm, was now cooling off. He looked down and realized why. The female wolf he'd met in the Forest – Danger – was uncurling from her position wrapped around him. She sniffed the air in the room and sneezed.

**Gesundheit. **

**Thank you.**

It was her voice. In his mind, not his ears, but her voice.

She whirled and stared at him, ears laid back. **Was that you?**

**Yes, I think so. **

**Where did this come from? **

**Left over from sharing the dream, perhaps? I like it, however we got it. Usually I can't get anything across when I'm transformed. **

**Usually you don't have anything to get across when you're transformed. Except "hunt, fight, kill", etc, etc. **

**Good point.**

Danger rubbed up against him lovingly. **Has anyone ever told you you're an extremely handsome wolf?**

**Has anyone ever told you you're beautiful when you're lupine?**

She giggled. **No.**

**Then you're well past due. **Remus nuzzled her, enjoying the clean, crisp scent of her fur.

"What should we do, Master?" asked a woman's voice nearby.

**Bellatrix.** Remus growled at her shape, visible through the pulsating shields. **Nasty little sack of dung.**

"We should wait for Regulus to return with his brother," said Voldemort in a tone of complete reason. "He knows more about these creatures than we do. He will be able to advise us."

**Wait a second.** Danger's tail, which had been waving gaily, faltered. **Sirius wouldn't go down the hall with Regulus, much less come someplace like this with him... unless...**

**Unless we weren't the only ones taken,** Remus finished for her, grimly. **And if Sirius was captured, it's almost a sure bet that either Aletha or James was too. Neither of them would let Sirius go without a fight. Peter might have something to say about it too, come to think.**

**I think I have a way to find out.** Danger sat down and lifted her nose into the air. **I've been prowling the dorm late at night, and I think I have just about all our scents sorted out... let me see if I can pick anyone up...**

**And this is highly embarrassing to admit, but I don't think I can help you. I'm not even sure I can walk in this form. **Remus looked doubtfully at his paws. **I mean, I've been a wolf dozens, maybe a hundred times, but I've never been conscious of it. Not really, like I am now. **

**It's not too hard, **said Danger absently. **You just have to let instinct handle it... ah-ha!**

**Ah-ha what?**

**Got one. Evanie. She's distinctive, being a female werewolf. And – yes, I thought so, there's Wormtail's along with hers... and yes, Sirius, and Letha too... and James, and Lily...**

**Good God, they took us all? Why?**

**Search me. Oh, and one other thing. These scents are fresh, and close. They can't be more than a hundred yards away right now...**

"Master!" Regulus Black came hurtling into the room. "Master, I arrived at the room where my traitor brother and his Mudblood were – but they were gone! They've escaped!"

**YES!**

**Thank God.**

Danger's mouth opened in a wolf-grin. Remus' tail thumped the floor.

One of the Death Eaters turned to stare at them.

* * *

(A/N: Ain't I a stinker, writing up to a climax like this and leaving it there? Will Remus and Danger ever regain human form? Will the other Marauders and Company be able to save them? Will Dumbledore and Snape and the rescue party arrive in time? What do you think about bug bites? Would you like me to have another chapter up tomorrow? Will you review and make me happy so that happens?) 


	14. Chapter 12: The Great Battle

(Warning: This chapter contains some scary images. But I stick by what I said – there will be a happy ending...)

* * *

Chapter 12: The Great Battle

"Gone?" repeated Voldemort, sounding mildly surprised. "Gone before you got there?"

"Yes, my lord." Regulus was breathing hard. "I looked around the area for them, but I found nothing..."

His voice choked off as Voldemort flicked a finger in his direction.

"I do not appreciate being lied to, Regulus," said Voldemort silkily, watching the boy claw at his throat. "Now, try again."

Another flick, and Regulus gasped in air desperately.

**Why would he lie?** Danger was watching the scene with narrowed eyes.

**I don't know... **

"My lord, it's true, I swear!"

"On your magic?"

Regulus looked suddenly horror-struck.

"Come, now, you try my patience, boy. Do you swear on your magic that your brother and the Mudblood were gone before you ever arrived in the room where they were?"

**What's the significance of swearing on his magic?**

**If he lies, he loses it. And he must be lying – look at him.** Regulus was perceptibly shaking, and his scent had the acid tinge of fear.

**But why doesn't he tell the truth? What could he have done that's so bad he doesn't dare tell about it? And why is that Death Eater staring at us?**

**I don't know, to all three. Can you tell who it is?**

**I'm not sure...**

"I swear on my magic," said Regulus suddenly. "I swear they were gone before I got there."

Voldemort shook his head. "Not good enough. You know the proper forms – the Blacks teach their children well, even if some of those children go astray later. Swear it correctly, or I shall be forced to use other methods of exacting the truth from you."

Regulus gulped. "I, Regulus Alphard Black, do swear on my magic..." He looked around the room, as if hoping someone would step forward and tell him to stop. "That my brother, Sirius Black, and the Mudblood girl he says he loves were not in the room where I left them when I arrived there a second time. If I do lie, may my magic desert me and I live out my days as a Muggle. So I speak, so I intend, so let it be done."

He closed his eyes and braced himself, as if waiting for a lightning bolt to hit him.

Nothing happened.

"Very clever," said Voldemort, advancing on the boy. "Very clever indeed – a nice use of wordplay. But I think I will see for myself..."

He stopped a few feet from Regulus and stared directly into the boy's eyes.

**He looks like a mouse being hypnotized by a snake. What's going on?**

**Voldemort's probably a Legilimens. That means he can... not exactly read minds, but catch the general drift of people's thoughts. And look into their memories – in this case, he's probably looking into Regulus' memories of the last few minutes. While we're waiting, any progress figuring out who that is?**

**No. Sorry.** The Death Eater hadn't stopped staring at them – if that was what it meant that his mask was turned steadily towards them – since Regulus had run into the room. He was the only one not watching the tableau of the two wizards eye to eye, Voldemort's red ones inscrutable, tears leaking from Regulus' grey...

"A life debt," said Voldemort softly, breaking contact. Regulus collapsed where he stood, his whole body shaking. "You owed your brother your life. Why did I not know of this?"

"My lord, _I_ did not know!" Regulus was on his hands and knees now, apparently not even daring to look up. "My lord, please... I had no choice... please..."

"Please? Please, what?"

"Please... let me live..."

"Let you live," repeated Voldemort speculatively. "Yes, I think perhaps I shall. Get up, Regulus. I will not kill you."

Regulus stared at his master in astonishment.

"Up, I said." Voldemort waved Regulus to his feet.

Regulus scrambled up, looking pathetically eager. It was so like Sirius' adorable puppy look that it made Danger want to cry. "My lord, anything – command me – I will do it..."

"Very well." Voldemort gestured again –

And the shields surrounding Remus and Danger were abruptly around Regulus as well.

"Feed my newest pets," said Voldemort, tone filled with malicious amusement, as Regulus backed away from the wolves in horror and the rest of the Death Eaters howled with laughter. "I'm sure the male is quite put out that his erstwhile meal has instead become competition..."

Danger looked back at Remus. **What do we do now?**

**Stalk him, chase him around a while. They want a show, let's give them one. **

**What do we do when they figure out we're not going to hurt him?**

**Let's worry about that when we get there...**

"My lord," said a smooth voice. It was the Death Eater who had been observing them – and it was a familiar sound to Danger. "May I speak?"

"Of course, Lucius."

**Damn it, of course, I'm so stupid! That's Malfoy!**

"My lord, it strikes me that all is not as it should be with these creatures," said Malfoy, waving at Remus and Danger. "Both of them show the signs of lycanthropy. Yet our information – from that so-reliable Master Black – indicated that not this girl, but another, was the female werewolf he met on the Hogwarts grounds."

**I'm not so sure we aren't going to hurt him.** Remus got slowly to his feet, eyes fixed on Regulus. **Now we know who the spy was at Hogwarts, the one who told Voldemort about me and Evanie, and who we all cared about... Regulus must have gone out that night to try and gather information, and got a little more than he bargained for...**

"As well, the girl transformed _before_ your spell struck either of them, my lord, suggesting that her transformation was under her control. But no werewolf can choose when to change, and a werewolf she certainly is..."

**What – I am not!**

**Maybe not, but – hold still.**

Danger stayed where she was, feeling Remus' eyes sweep over her.

**I don't know how it happened, but you're not in true wolf shape anymore. Look at your tail. It's tufted, like a kneazle's. **

Danger twisted to look at her newest appendage. **Or like yours. **

**Yes. And your snout is blunter than it was, and... oh, a lot of little things, nothing huge. But this is not the form you started out with. **Remus sighed heavily, aloud as well as in his mind. **For better or for worse, a lot changed when you jumped in the way of that spell. **

"As well, they demonstrated happiness when hearing the news of the escape of their friends. No werewolf would be able to understand language so well, or show such emotion because of it."

**You know, this guy is really starting to get on my nerves...**

"And finally, neither of them has made any move to attempt to attack us. Your shields, if you will pardon my saying so, my lord, might stop a true werewolf, but would not deter it. It would continue attempting to breach the shields until injuring or exhausting itself, or succeeding."

"True," said Voldemort thoughtfully. "And neither of them, as yet, has made any move to attack Master Black... what are you suggesting, Lucius?"

"I am suggesting nothing, my lord. Merely pointing out facts."

"Indeed. Would you care to make a suggestion?"

"About what, my lord? What is happening here, or what should be done next?"

"Either. Both, preferably."

"About what is happening, I have not any idea in the world, my lord," said Malfoy frankly. "I was under the impression that nothing made any difference to a werewolf in its animal form – that it would and must always attack the nearest human, regardless of barriers or obstacles in its way. Yet there they sit, perfectly calm." Malfoy's hand rose to his chest, hovering near the catch of his robes. "With your permission, my lord, I would end their calmness."

"You wish me to lower the shields?"

"Not lower, my lord. Merely breach them for a moment or two. That should be all the time needed to rouse one of them to a killing frenzy."

"With the Cruciatus, no doubt." Voldemort laughed. "A man after my own mind, Lucius. Very well, prepare yourself."

**Get back!** Remus leapt forward and grabbed Danger by the scruff, dragging her backwards. **If anyone here undergoes the Cruciatus, it's me. **

**Oh, wonderful. You, the actual werewolf here, who might just possibly revert under the pressure of pain. **Danger freed herself with a twist and tug. **I distracted you from Regulus once, but I'm not sure I could do it again – not in these close quarters...**

"My lord!" shouted another voice from outside the shields.

**What now?** Both wolves turned to look at the Death Eater who stumbled into the room, clutching his side.

"My lord, we're under attack! Dumbledore and his people – I don't know how they found us – they're inside already, sending out scouting parties, I barely escaped!"

"Everyone, to your positions for defense!" ordered Voldemort. "Lucius, remain here until you have dealt with the problem." A wave of a hand, and a small hole appeared in the shields, large enough to send a spell through. "Then join us." With a barely-audible pop, he Disapparated. Waves of cracks signaled the Disapparation of the Death Eaters. Within moments, the wolves, Regulus, and Malfoy were alone in the room.

Malfoy began, softly, to laugh. The sound grew louder and louder, echoing off the stone walls. "Vengeance," he said in the midst of his laughter. "Vengeance will be so sweet..."

"What did I do?" begged Regulus, who was pressed against the shields as far from Remus and Danger as he could get. "Please, sir, what?"

"Not you, boy, you don't matter." Malfoy removed his mask, revealing his ever-sneering face. "Them. And the question is not, what did they do, but, what would they have done?"

**Do you have any idea what he's talking about?**

**Nope. Not a one.**

"The Dark Lord shared with me some of the particulars of the worlds he viewed in the scry," said Malfoy, beginning to walk lazily around the shields. "Some of the more enjoyable ones, of course. I especially liked the one where I obtain a guardian for my house and grounds. An animal guardian, but with the intelligence of a human, and with a magical collar which makes it thoroughly loyal to me and mine, and thoroughly dangerous to others..." He laughed again. "I volunteered to capture you, werewolf, so that I might see my future slave. Perhaps I shall acquire your female as well and have a matched pair – what do you think of that?"

Remus bared his teeth. **Never. **

"But for another reason as well. I also learned some of the more distressing possibilities. Worlds in which my master rises to power slowly – worlds in which he falls, to return to glory only many years in the future, if ever. And in one of those worlds, a terrible tragedy befalls me."

Regulus was staring at the man, fascinated.

"My house is ruined," said Malfoy icily. "My name dragged in the dirt. I become an object of public ridicule, a common criminal, sent to Azkaban, there to be forgotten and decay. My wife takes her own life. And my son and heir, a child of four, is stolen by my enemies. Stolen by _you._" It was a virulent hiss.

**He saw us steal his son? But he doesn't even have one yet...**

"I have seen it, seen how you raise him in your filthy, unnatural ways. By the time he is seven, he no longer thinks he is human – and at the age of ten, he no longer is. You," he glared at Danger, "see fit to change him, on a whim, into the form of an animal." He looked away, then back at her, face calmly arrogant once more. "The Dark Lord refrained from showing me any more, to spare me unnecessary pain."

**Set your mind at rest, Blondie.** Danger scratched her ear with one hind leg. **I wouldn't touch anything _you_ spawned with a twenty-foot pole.**

**That doesn't make any sense, though.** Remus was watching Malfoy circle them. **Why would we do that? Not taking his son, but doing things like that to him? **

**Remus, he's probably making it up on the spot. Don't take it too seriously. **

"So. For that insult to the house and line of Malfoy, I can now take my revenge." Malfoy's smile broadened. "Pre-emptive revenge. I will enjoy this."

Remus interposed himself between Danger and the hole in the shields. **I can take it. Just stay back. **

**Like hell. **Danger jumped over him instead of bothering to go around. **I may look like a werewolf, but I'm not one, and you are. I won't likely lose control, and you will. **

**But...**

**Can you stop being gallant long enough to think, please?**

**Where do you keep the whetstone?**

**What?**

**For sharpening your tongue. **

**Shut up.**

"Decide quickly, which of you it is to be," Malfoy warned them, waggling his wand at them. "I will be needed at the defenses, once Master Black has been taken care of..."

Regulus whimpered as Remus walked carefully over towards him and sat down, then lay down. **I still don't like it,** he said. **But you're right, we can't afford to have me out of control. So it's all yours.**

Danger faced the hole in the shields and growled deep in her throat. **Bring it on, arsehole.**

Malfoy aimed his wand through the hole. "_Cru–_"

He was cut off by a large chunk of brick slamming into the side of his head.

**What in the world?** Danger wheeled around.

"Score!" James Potter erupted triumphantly into the room. "Got him!"

**James! **Remus was on his feet again. **Nice throw! Oh, that's right – he can't hear me.** He looked downcast. **I forgot.**

Danger snickered. **You're cute when you're stupid.**

**That's good, considering the amount of time I seem to spend being stupid.**

"Moony?" James stared through the shield. "That you?"

Remus nodded.

James' eyes widened. "All right, you did _not _just answer me. Did you?"

Another nod. Lily was beside James now, staring into the enclosure.

"All right, I guess you did. Who's your friend?"

"It's Granger," volunteered Regulus. "She turned into a wolf before the Dark Lord hit them with the spell."

"What spell?" asked James.

"It was supposed to turn Lupin into the werewolf and keep him that way, all the time."

Lily gasped.

"But Granger jumped on him, and it hit both of them. I don't know what it did to them. But they haven't hurt me."

"Yet," said Lily darkly. She went to her knees beside the shield. "Remus – Danger – is it really you?"

Both wolves nodded, getting as close to her as they could.

"God, it is – James, look at their eyes – it's really them, they're both wolves." Lily looked shaken and more than a little horrified. "Can you change back? Become human again?"

Remus looked at Danger. **You know, I hadn't thought of that. **

**Comment about being stupid having already been made, no reason to remake it. **

**Thank you.** Remus looked back at Lily and shrugged.

"Try. You have to try. Please."

**All right, but I'm not sure how much good it's going to do... **Remus stepped away from the shield and closed his eyes. A moment passed.

**The problem is, I don't know what I ought to be doing, **he confessed to Danger. **How do you turn back from Animagus form?**

**Concentrate hard on what it's like to be human. Two legs, standing upright, hands, face, colors, speech...**

Remus stood stiffly for a moment, then relaxed. **Nothing's happening,** he said. **Maybe you should try. **

**Maybe I should. **Danger took his place in the middle of the shields and closed her own eyes, concentrating on her own familiar human body. Hair that never stayed where she put it, teeth which had needed both her parents' skill to look as good as they did – being able to run down stairs without being afraid of falling headfirst, or reach something on a high shelf – being able to reach something at all, with her hands – handicrafts, her knitting and crochet work, in all the brilliant colors which she currently couldn't see –

**Anything?** she asked silently.

**No. Nothing.**

Danger opened her eyes and sighed. Paws, long-furred paws, which somehow weren't quite as delightful as they had been the first day she'd seen them. She padded back to the edge of the shields, shaking her head.

"That's what I was afraid of." Lily was blinking back tears now.

"What?" asked James in bewilderment. "Moony can think, he's got his mind, he's not attacking anyone – that's wonderful–"

"But he'll never be human again! Don't you understand? They're trapped, both of them! They'll be wolves the rest of their lives, unless Dumbledore or McGonagall or someone can change them back..." Lily's voice broke, and she covered her face with her hands, sobbing quietly. James put his arm around her, looking in at Remus and Danger, who sat and looked back at him.

**I wish she'd dry up,** said Danger a bit wistfully. **She's likely to start me off if she's not careful. **

**Only one problem,** said Remus.

**What?**

**Wolves can't cry. **

Danger whined unhappily. **Damn it, you had to bring that up... now I want to even more...**

There was a thud as Regulus fell to the floor.

_Outside_ the shields.

James snatched up the wand Lily had let drop and was holding it on him before Regulus even had his breath back. "All right, how'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Get out."

"I did?" Regulus stared at the shields, then at James. "I don't know. I was just leaning on them, and then I was out."

"What are they supposed to stop? Just spells, or physical stuff too?"

"Spells and physical attacks."

**Physical attacks,** said Danger slowly. **Attacks – but he wasn't attacking it. He was just leaning on it. So it let him through... I wonder...**

**Let's try.** Very slowly, Remus slid a paw forward towards the shield.

It passed through.

Remus wolf-grinned at Danger. **Slow and steady wins the race. Let's get out of here. **

**Sounds like a plan.**

A flicker of movement at the corner of her vision made Danger turn to look. Then she howled in alarm. **James, look out!**

"_Expelliarmus!_" shouted Lucius Malfoy, his wand pointing at James.

The wand flew from James' hand and clattered against the far wall as the spell knocked him to the ground. Lily stifled a scream with her hands over her mouth.

"How excellent." Malfoy's face was disfigured by a bleeding cut and what would probably be an amazing bruise later, but he was still sneering. "You have no idea how much my master will honor me for this, Potter... he might have liked to do it himself, but he will be just as happy to have the threat removed..."

"The threat of what?"

"Of you. Or rather, your child."

"Child?" James looked stunned. "I don't have a child."

"No. But you will. And that child will be, at the very best, a nuisance to my master. At the worst, his downfall. And now..." Malfoy's smile was sickening. "Now it will never be."

Danger was halfway out of the shield, Remus a little more, but they wouldn't be free in time to save James – Lily was where Malfoy could see her, she couldn't do anything – Regulus was still staring around at everyone, apparently unable to make any decision –

Malfoy raised his wand. "_Avada–_"

A hoarse, croaking cry interrupted him, as something huge and black dropped between him and James, beating at his face with its wings –

_Wings?_

It snatched the wand from Malfoy's hand with its talons before flapping away –

**Snape!**

**What?** Remus stared at the thing now circling the ceiling of the round room. **Danger, that's a bird – looks like a raven – **

**It's Snape. In Animagus form. I told you he'd done it too. **

**That's right, you did. I'd forgotten.** Remus squirmed slightly, moving himself a few inches more forward. **He flies pretty well. **

The raven landed several feet away from the group and retransformed. Snape drew his own wand and pointed it towards Malfoy, stopping the man in his tracks. "Don't," he said laconically. "Potter, are you all right?"

"Fine, thanks." James got to his feet with Lily's help.

"All debts between us are now canceled."

"True."

"And I have your wand, as it happens." Snape reached into his robes with his left hand and extracted several wands. "As well as yours, Evans, and Lupin's and Granger's – if you know where they can be found–"

"They're right there," said Lily, nodding at the two wolves, Remus already all the way out of the shield, Danger just extracting her tail. "But I don't think they'll be able to use their wands."

Snape regarded them. "Obviously not. _Stupefy,_" he said as an aside, dropping Malfoy, who had been trying to sneak away.

**Not bad. Snape's better with a wand than he lets on. **

Snape was distributing wands now. "Didn't you bring Sirius'?" asked James as he pocketed his own. "Or Letha's, or Wormtail's?"

"I have already had the pleasure of meeting with them, Potter, and returning their wands to them." Snape Summoned the wand Malfoy had taken from James. "They are currently taking part in the battle. I was planning to return as soon as I had found you."

"Why?" asked Lily curiously. "You don't like us, you never have. Why come to find us, or help us?"

Snape looked at her. "Disliking you is one thing, Evans. Leaving you alone and unprotected, without even a wand, in the stronghold of the Dark Lord, is something I would not wish on my worst enemy."

**Which James actually is...**

"Besides, every able-bodied fighter will make a difference in this battle. We should return."

"I want to help," said a voice. Everyone jumped.

Regulus Black had gotten to his feet. "I want to help you," he repeated. "I want to fight with you."

"And why should we trust you?" demanded James. "You turned your own brother over to the Death Eaters – what's changed your mind now?"

"Sirius could have let me die in February," said Regulus in a rush. "But he didn't. They could have killed me just now." He looked at Remus and Danger, sitting side by side. "And they didn't. But the Dark Lord wanted me dead just for doing what I didn't have any choice about doing." He looked back at James. "I have a better chance of surviving if I'm on your side."

James looked at the ceiling. "I'm going to regret this," he said to no one in particular, and turned to Snape. "Give him that wand you picked up. It's off some Death Eater or other, Wormtail scrounged it for us."

"Are you certain about this?" asked Snape, his cold black eyes meeting James' hazel levelly.

"No. But like you said, we need all the help we can get."

A moment passed. Then Snape gave a curt nod and tossed the wand to Regulus. "I will be watching you," he warned the younger boy. "One treacherous move and you spend the rest of the battle bound and gagged."

"I understand." Regulus looked toward the door. "Where are they fighting?"

"Through most of the house by now, I am sure. We need only follow the sound."

Danger cocked her head. **He's right.** Dimly, she could hear crashes and bangs, voices screaming or shouting out incantations. **Come on, let's go bite some Death Eater arse.**

**Just be careful not to bite anyone on our side. We don't know how contagious we are...**

**True. All right, I'll try to be careful. **

"You first, Reggie," said James, waving the younger boy out of the room with his wand. "Then you two." He indicated Remus and Danger. "Then you, Snape, then us."

"Still don't trust me, Potter?" Snape asked coolly. "And after I saved your life."

"No, but I think I'd be better at rear-guard," said James. "Since I am planning on being an Auror."

"As you like." Snape fell into line behind the wolves.

Danger turned her head slightly at a noise from the round room and saw ropes burst from James' wand, binding Malfoy where he lay.

_Good idea. Every man down is another one we don't have to fight._

She broke into a loping run, matching Remus stride for stride.

* * *

The battle was long and protracted. Both sides had set up temporary headquarters where they could plan their next attacks and bring their wounded for field care. Evanie's hands, although not able to hold a wand for combat, could manage one well enough to do some of the simpler Healing spells. And she could administer potions and bind up wounds as well as anyone. 

James and Lily, Remus and Danger, and Snape and Regulus had arrived a bit over an hour ago, she thought. James had been through once for a cut on his forehead, and Snape for a burn to his left arm, but both of those had been easily treated. Peter, though, her beloved Peter, had been hit with some curse that caused terrible internal bleeding, according to Aletha. His best chance was to lie perfectly still and not get too excited.

_Oh, of course. No one gets excited on a battlefield. _

Worse, the curse meant Peter couldn't transform, since the use of magic would only worsen the bleeding. He'd be dead within a minute if he did. Aletha had prescribed a light Sleeping Potion, one that wouldn't harm him, to keep him as quiet as possible, and Evanie had given it to him herself.

She sneaked a look at her watch. It would be midnight in just five minutes.

_What a way to spend the first night of my summer..._

Someone screamed behind her. She whirled just in time to see masked and robed figures appearing in the room, five, ten, more –

_They must have figured out where we were and Apparated in – _

She drew her wand, prepared to fight as best she could, as some of their own people rushed in to help stem the tide.

* * *

Sirius shielded Aletha as she dashed for the entrance to the rooms where the Order of the Phoenix (a nice name, that, he thought) had set up camp. She turned, once inside, and covered his run to the door. 

_We've been fighting pretty much constantly since we got loose..._

The two Death Eaters who had been bringing the news of the attack to Voldemort had nearly run the six friends over in the hallway. In the commotion of the fight, James and Lily had disappeared, and one of the Death Eaters had also gotten away. The remaining four had opted to try to find the rescue party – which was obviously not just a rescue party, they realized as soon as they saw how many people were present.

_Dumbledore must think we have a chance at beating Voldemort, now that we're into one of his strongholds._

Snape had seen them behind the Death Eaters' lines and flown over to bring them their wands. Together, the five of them (even Evanie had managed) had fought their way to the other side, where they had been unofficially inducted into the Order of the Phoenix. They'd been fighting ever since.

James and Lily had showed up later, with Remus and Danger in tow, and the two wolves were really cutting a swath through the Death Eaters, since they both seemed to have partial immunity to hostile spells. Sirius had been surprised to see their other companions, but Regulus had been fighting beside them without showing any signs of turning on them, and Snape was picking off Death Eaters faster than almost anyone.

And now, the Dark wizards were inside the Order's temporary headquarters. There were screams, sounds of breaking glass –

And just as Sirius burst into the room that was being used as an infirmary, one Death Eater shouted a horribly familiar incantation and, with a huge rushing sound, sent a jet of green light directly towards a small figure lying on a cot, eyes closed.

"NO!" screamed a voice, and Evanie flung herself across the room.

It seemed impossible that she could make so long a leap in time. But, somehow, she did it.

The light impacted on her chest instead of Peter's. She fell limply to the floor.

"_Constringo!_" shouted Aletha, and the Death Eater flew across the room and hit the wall, wrapped in ropes as thick as Sirius' wrist. It might be overkill, but Sirius matched her feelings perfectly. His spells had never been so strong, nor so violent.

_The one girl who's ever cared for him – and now she went and died for him – _

He whipped around to pick off another Death Eater and spotted someone. Regulus was standing against the wall, staring at Evanie's lifeless figure on the floor.

_Never mind him now – they just keep coming, don't they?_ More and more masked figures were appearing in the rooms, the Death Eaters must have sent everyone they had – but the Order was winning, they were taking them out –

And then suddenly everything was quiet. People looked around at each other.

"Is that it?"

"Did we win?"

"Stay alert, everyone," said Dumbledore, appearing in the doorway. "Do not let your guard down."

Sirius looked across the room and, with a rush of relief, saw James stand up from where he had been lying. His face was a bit bloody, but he looked otherwise all right. Lily was coming out from behind the bed where she'd taken cover – Aletha was going to see what she could do for the wounded – Remus was wiping his claws (another way werewolves differed from true wolves was in having sharp retractable claws, like cats did) on a spare sheet – Danger was pulling someone out from under a bed, an unconscious Death Eater, Sirius saw as the masked face was revealed, unconscious or dead...

Peter stirred on his bed.

_Oh, now that's ironic. Battle goes on around him, he doesn't turn a hair. But now that it's over..._

He crossed the room and gently lifted Evanie from the floor, setting her on the cot beside Peter.

"Padfoot?" said a wobbly voice.

"Hey, Wormtail," Sirius said without turning around.

"What happened?"

"They got in here. There was a battle. But I think we won."

"Oh. All right. What happened to Selene?"

Sirius turned to look at Peter. His friend was lying on his side, looking at Evanie with such mingled worry and devotion in his eyes that Sirius was tempted as never before to lie through his teeth.

_But that won't change anything. Nor will it help. _

"I'm sorry, Wormtail," he said. "I'm really sorry."

"Sorry? For what?" Peter laughed breathily. "She's not... dead. Is she?"

Something nudged Sirius' leg. He looked down.

Remus stood beside him, a sheet in his mouth and his eyes full of understanding and sorrow. Sirius accepted the cloth, his throat suddenly very tight.

"I'm sorry, Peter," he said again, and draped the white sheet over Evanie's body.

* * *

(A/N: Yes, I'm aware that I'm a horrible, terrible person. So you don't have to tell me that in reviews. And I'm aware that a happy ending does not usually involve killing off a main character, even one so recently added as Evanie. However, are you aware of why I made such a point of what time it was? Let me know if you are... or if you're not... or if you like compasses... just review! Please! If you give me lots of review love, I might just be able to write the big long "End of the End" chapter that I know you've all been waiting for tomorrow!) 


	15. Chapter 13: Repercussions

(A/N: Immense BYOT warning.)

* * *

Chapter 13: Repercussions

_It's over. We've won._

Lily had never been so happy to see the end of anything. Battles were worse than she had thought – if she never had to fight in another one, it would be too soon for her. And she was discovering things about herself.

_I don't think I'm cut out to be a Healer. Mess and blood I can handle, but it affects me badly when the harm was done deliberately..._

Aletha seemed to be five places at once – she'd already set three broken bones, bandaged several serious wounds, and administered a number of healing potions from her bag. Lily was taking care of the less serious cases, which didn't need as much skill or as much of the Healer's professional detachment, something Aletha had in quantities and Lily hardly at all.

_Maybe I'll become a midwife. I think I'd like that..._

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Lily and the Auror whose arm she was bandaging both jumped. "What is that?" asked the woman, whom Lily vaguely recalled introducing herself as Alice Longbottom.

"It's Peter," said Lily, recognizing the voice. "A friend of mine. But I don't know what's happened to him..."

Aletha looked up from Alice's husband, Frank, and the broken ankle she was setting. "It's Evanie," she said, her face still but her voice frighteningly dead. "I thought I saw it, but I wasn't sure..."

"Evanie?" asked Frank. "Is that his girlfriend?"

Lily nodded. "What did you think you saw?" she asked Aletha.

Aletha's eyes were blank, as if she were trying to block out the memory. "Someone tried _Avada Kedavra_ on Peter. But Evanie got there first."

The blood drained from Lily's face as she realized what that meant.

_No wonder he's screaming..._

"Go," Alice urged her, seeing the look on her face. "I'll be fine – you go, he needs his friends now."

Lily scrambled to her feet and hurried across the room, stepping over bound Death Eaters, pieces of the wall, broken wands spitting sparks, getting closer and closer to the source of the cries, which hadn't let up.

Peter was lying on one of the cots, twisting his body and screaming, trying to get out from under Remus, who was holding him down with one paw on each shoulder. Sirius and James were standing nearby, looking very much as if they didn't know what to do. A white-draped form on the next bed must be Evanie.

Averting her eyes, Lily knelt next to Peter. "Settle down," she said. "Peter, do you hear me? You have to calm down, you're going to hurt yourself if you keep on like this–"

"I DON'T CARE!" Peter's eyes were wild and staring. "I don't care," he repeated a little more quietly, now lying more still but trembling all over, tense and stiff. Remus made an uncomfortable noise low in his throat.

"I don't care," said Peter a third time, looking away from Lily, to the still form of Evanie, then back. "I don't care if I die. I _want_ to die. I'll be with her again. I _want_ to die–"

Remus barked in alarm as Peter's shoulders vanished from beneath his paws. Wormtail the rat scurried off the bed, across the intervening space, and vanished beneath the shrouding sheet, visible only as a moving hump in the cloth covering the bed's right bottom leg, and even that disappeared as he got to the mattress. James, the closest of them, pulled the cloth away quickly.

Wormtail was nestled against Evanie's side, his eyes shut. Remus dodged as Lily hurdled the bed, her heart pounding.

_He wasn't supposed to transform – that'll start the bleeding again – he's going to get his wish – _

The furry body under her hand was still warm, still breathing, but Lily could feel the jerkiness in the breaths, could feel how Peter was fighting for each one, a fight that in a few moments he wouldn't be able to win.

"We're going to lose him," said Sirius quietly. "Aren't we?"

Throat too choked to speak, Lily nodded. _This isn't fair – they never even had a chance at life – they were so in love, so happy, and now it's gone, all gone – no one can heal this..._

Danger was sitting on the bed next to Remus now, her head laid against his and sorrow plain in both sets of eyes, brown and blue. Aletha stood next to Sirius, her best Healer's detachment beginning to crack at the sight of her friends, one dead, one dying. Lily reached blindly for James and felt his hands close around hers and lift her to her feet, and his arms wrap around her, giving and asking comfort at the same time.

Somewhere in the house, a clock began to strike midnight.

* * *

Midnight. 

A perfect time to strike.

_They will die where they stand. _

_What a fool Dumbledore was, to fight on my ground – I know precisely how to seal off every room in this house, and how to fill those sealed rooms with gases so insidious and deadly that they will have no chance. Or there are always the spells I have tailored to harm only those who do not wear my Mark. _

"The moment of my triumph is at hand," hissed Lord Voldemort to himself as the last stroke of midnight died away.

"Not quite," said an amused voice behind him.

* * *

"Excuse me," said a woman's voice behind them. 

Sirius stepped out of the way of a white-haired witch in blue robes, with a face holding both wisdom and compassion.

Lily looked hard at her. _Who is she? I don't think I've ever seen her before, but she reminds me of someone..._

"I may be able to help." The witch lowered herself to one knee and laid a hand on Peter's tiny, furry back. "Come now, you don't want to die," she murmured. "Not yet, at any rate. Don't you want to see that overblown child who calls himself a Dark Lord get his comeuppance?"

The others exchanged startled looks. What was she talking about?

"Yes, I thought that would get you," said the witch in a satisfied tone. "Come along, there's no time to waste. The rest of you, too," she said, turning away from Peter to look at the other six. "You'll want to watch. It'll be something to tell your grandchildren about – you were there at the fall of 'Lord' Voldemort." The sneer quotes around the title were as obvious as if she'd written them down.

Lily and Aletha's attention was caught by what was happening on the bed. Peter's breathing was no longer ragged – it was deep and even, and he was stirring –

The human Peter Pettigrew sat up as the white-haired witch took her hand away. He still looked as if he'd lost his best friend –

_Which he has. _

But his face was no longer unnaturally pale, his breathing was easy, and he stood up with no trouble. "I can always do it later," he said to the witch, almost challengingly. "After I see this."

"True enough," she said placidly. "Come on, then, everyone, out to the other room. You should all see this – as I said, something to tell the grandchildren about–"

They were all moving, everyone in the room, even the wounded were hobbling or being carried out, through the small complex of rooms where they had set up camp and into the large hallway where most of the fighting had happened –

Where two wizards stood in a shell of green energy that closely resembled the one that had enclosed Remus and Danger when Lily had first seen them as wolves. But this was a different color of green, darker, richer, healthier.

One of the wizards was Voldemort. Lily had never seen him before, but it could be no one else. Though he looked different from the way she had expected – he looked –

_Frightened? _

The other was a man in green robes who looked a great deal like James' father, though perhaps not quite so old. Or maybe he looked like James would in a few years. Lily couldn't decide.

As if he knew what she was thinking, the other wizard looked directly at her through the shield and smiled. Lily stared. The shield might be distorting her vision, but if it wasn't, the wizard had eyes almost exactly like her own...

A small wave of his hand made a portion of the shield transparent. His eyes were still as green as leaves in June. He winked at her, then restored the shield to its former shade.

"Are we all assembled?" he said aloud, in a strong, carrying baritone.

"We are," answered a chorus. Lily turned to see the white-haired woman who had healed Peter standing with three other women in blue, together with two men and a woman in red and a man and woman in yellow.

_None of them were here for the battle, I'm certain of it..._

And now that she looked, there were people inside that circle of brightly-colored robes. People in black, with mussed hair and ropes around their bodies.

_The Death Eaters! Are they – guarding them somehow? But none of them have wands..._

"Tom Marvolo Riddle," said the man in the shield, thoughtfully. "What a fine young man you were. I remember when you were born – we all had such high hopes for you. Finally, a strong Heir of the bloodline. Maybe he'll overcome the taint. Maybe he'll fight through the troubles." He shook his head. "But it didn't work out quite like we hoped it would."

"No one calls me by that absurd name," said Voldemort angrily. "Who are you, that you so dare?"

"I'm your great-uncle, Tommy boy." The man seemed to be counting on his fingers, then gave it up. "Well, actually that's great-great-great-great-many-lots-of-times-great – a thousand years or so, you figure it out. Doesn't matter. What matters is that we are related. You're descended from my lovely brother Matthias." He looked over at Sirius. "Dad always liked him best," he said. "You can relate, I'm sure."

Sirius nodded bemusedly. "A thousand years?" he hissed to the others. "Who _is_ this bloke?"

"My name is Alexander Slytherin. I was the second son of Salazar Slytherin. He and Matthias left the school after that little disagreement over purity of blood. I stayed."

_And the noise you hear is the sound of everyone's jaw hitting the floor..._

"I and my colleagues remain close to the world we once lived in – you might call us super-ghosts–"

"No, you might call us that," called out the younger man in red. "I prefer demi-gods, myself."

"Thank you, Paul," said Alexander sarcastically. "At any rate, we did once live in this world with bodies of flesh and blood, which did die quite a long time ago, and our souls do continue to live on in another place, not too terribly far from here, from which we can, when we are allowed, influence the workings of this world. For the better, I hope."

Lily's eyes were drawn to Dumbledore. He was listening calmly, as if none of this surprised him at all.

_I suppose now I can honestly say that nothing ever surprises him..._

"We can occasionally take on a semi-fleshly form," Alexander continued. "When it is needed." He stepped closer to Voldemort and slapped him hard across the face. "As you see. You're really very ugly in this form, you know that? Why don't we have a little makeover party, you and I." He waved a hand around Voldemort's head, and a green mist issued from it, covering the Dark wizard.

When it dissipated, there was standing a man whom Lily would have guessed at thirty if he were a Muggle and perhaps fifty to fifty-five for a wizard. He had dark hair and strong bones in his face, and there was a resemblance between him and Alexander. A stranger might have guessed that they were somehow related, but surely no one would ever have guessed the truth, Lily thought...

"Most of the time, of course, we're not allowed to interfere this directly. We have to give people hints and clues, and help them notice important things, and wait to see how it all comes out. But just this once, we're allowed to take a direct hand in things. And I'm taking full advantage."

Voldemort, though Lily supposed they would have to call him Riddle now, seemed unable to speak for rage. His face was no longer as frightening as it had been, but he could still look so angry that it made you want to cringe before him. "What do you plan to do?" he asked softly, after a moment of struggling to speak without screaming.

Alexander smiled. There was no pity and no mercy in his face. "I plan to give you exactly what you deserve. Exactly what you gave all the others. Right down to that girl who died on your orders a few minutes ago. Every death, every scream of pain, every horrified thought that ever happened because of you – you're going to experience them all. From the other side."

He laced his fingers together behind his back and stretched his arms upward, rolling his shoulders. "After that... how would you like to meet your hallowed ancestor? Not Salazar, I'm afraid – my father is, shall we say, unavailable at the present time – but Matthias is somewhere perfectly accessible to us. To me, rather. And I plan to take you there."

The smile returned. "It's a little corner of existence just above the worlds. Where Matty can look down at them, watch them all going on, but can't get in touch with any of them. No one hears him in their heads the way they hear me sometimes, encouraging them to do something they might not do on their own..."

Behind her, a strangled whine made itself heard. One of the wolves had apparently just had an epiphany.

"In short, he's totally and completely helpless. Can't do a damn thing. And that's what gets to happen to you, Tommy boy. Except I'll key your little space to this world particularly. And it's slated to run pretty damn happily for the next, oh, hundred years or so. You get to watch everyone be happy, and think about how you could ruin their lives if you only got the chance. Except you never will."

Riddle was staring at Alexander in undisguised revulsion.

"So, all you folks out there, do me a favor," Alexander concluded, looking around at his audience. "Be a little extra happy every day. Tommy'll hate you for it." He looked over at the other brightly-garbed people. "Am I good to go, Rick?"

"I think you've covered everything, Alex," said the older of the men in red. "We'll handle it from here."

"Then I take my leave. So long, kids, and always brush your teeth."

Lily got one last look at Riddle, rigid with shock and horror, before the shield imploded with a thunderous clap of air. Silence reigned in the room for a moment.

"Always brush your teeth?" repeated Sirius aloud, in a tone of total disbelief.

"Sound advice," said a calm voice. Albus Dumbledore was crossing the room towards them, with the woman in red and two or three of the ones in blue beside him. "Now, I believe there is some business to be taken care of, regarding other injustices that have been done tonight."

Lily followed the others back into the room where Evanie lay on the bed, face frozen in lines of determination. Peter moaned at the sight of her, and knelt down beside her, laying his face on the mattress.

"We will let him have a moment alone," said Dumbledore, putting up a Privacy Spell around Peter and Evanie. "If you will all excuse me, I am needed elsewhere, but Remus, Danger, these ladies have a gift for you." He moved away, toward a knot of adults at the other side of the room.

"We do have something for you," said the woman in red. "Something I think you want very much."

"We can turn you human again," said the dark-haired woman in blue. Remus' jaws opened in a wolf-grin and his ears pricked up happily, and Danger pranced a little in place, her tail wagging.

"Everything goes back to the way it was," continued the blonde. "I'm afraid we can't do anything about the lycanthropy, Mr. Lupin, we haven't been authorized for that."

"But Miss Granger remains an Animagus, so that would be more or less solved, as I understand it," finished the redhead.

Remus nodded resignedly. **I'm used to what I am. Don't worry about it. **

"Moony?" said James in surprise. "Was that you?"

**Well, I don't see any other talking wolves around here,** said an acidic female voice.

"Danger!" Aletha laughed aloud, if a bit shakily. "Do you ever stop making comments?"

**No, she doesn't,** said Remus.

"Didn't think so."

**I can talk for myself, you know.**

**I never said you couldn't.**

"Enough, you two," said the woman in red, with good humor in her voice. "You'll have your whole lives to fight. Let's get this done."

**Wait.** Danger looked up at the woman. **I'm sorry, I don't know your name – **

"Maura. And these are Brenna and Sophia and Margaret."

**Thank you. Please, isn't there anything you can do about Evanie?**

"What do you mean?" asked Maura, in a tone Lily interpreted as careful, as if she were waiting for something, or listening for it, something that would be her cue to act in a certain manner.

**Some way to – oh, I know there isn't, but I can't help hoping – please, can't you bring her back to life?**

Maura exchanged a look with Margaret, the redhead, before she answered. "Perhaps. But that requires certain elements to be present."

"What kind of elements?" asked Sirius.

"Is there any way we could help?" Aletha wanted to know.

"We'll do anything," said James.

"Within reason," Lily added quickly, elbowing him. _These people are obviously powerful, and probably not human as we think of it, it wouldn't be beyond them to take "anything" literally..._

"Two elements are required for Evanie Mead to live again," said Sophia, the blonde woman, precisely. "First, a large amount of magic, roughly equivalent to that we will use to make each of you human again." She nodded to Remus and Danger. "Secondly, another life."

"Another life?" repeated Aletha. "You mean, someone else has to die?"

"This is why we were hesitant to tell you," said Brenna, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "We hardly ever do this, it's a terrible precedent to set, and a terrible price to pay. But a life for a life is only fair."

**May I ask a question?** It was Remus' voice.

"Certainly," said Maura.

**If I remain in this form, what will happen to me on full moons?**

"Nothing. The magic which was disrupted by Miss Granger's action left both of you in this altered state permanently. You are, as of this moment, not a werewolf. The full moon will have no effect on you."

**And – **Remus looked around the group. **If, perhaps, one of us remained in this form while the other became human again. Would the link by which we speak remain intact?**

**What are you implying, Remus?** asked Danger sharply.

"Yes, the link would remain. It will persist between you even should you both return to human form."

**_Should_ we both return?**

**Then I offer my magic as part of what is needed for Evanie's life,** said Remus, ignoring Danger. **I know what it is to see the one you love be out of your reach, as you think, forever. Peter deserves much better than that. I would rather be a wolf all my life than watch him suffer and know I could have helped him, and did not. **

Danger grumbled aloud. **Man's too damn noble for his own good,** she griped mentally, and Lily got the impression that only she and Aletha, who was looking amused, could hear it. **I think that's why I love him. **She spoke up. **I have a request as well. **

"We are listening," said Maura.

**I don't want to be human if Remus can't. Take the magic you would have used on me and do something good with it. I'll take my chances in this form. **

**Danger – **Remus turned to stare at her. **You don't have to do this. **

**Nor do you, but I know you. Arguing with the walls of Hogwarts would be easier. And I'd rather live as a wolf with you than be human without you. So that's settled. **

"There is a phrase to make it binding," said Brenna. "'So I speak, so I intend.' Speak your wish formally, and end with that phrase, and it will be done."

**Formally?**

"Oh, I know." Sirius brightened. "Like pureblood-speak, Moony. Remember when I used to do that and make everybody laugh?"

Movement behind him caught Lily's eye. Regulus was hovering on the edge of their group, close enough to hear but not saying anything.

**Yes, I remember. So I start with my name?**

"Yes," said Sirius and Maura together, then looked at each other in surprise.

Remus chuckled. **All right. I, Remus Lupin, declare on this day, the first of July, 1977, that I wish the magic which would have been used to return me to human form to be used instead to restore Evanie Mead to life. So I speak, so I intend. **

**I, Gertrude Granger,** said another voice, **declare on this day, the first of July, 1977, that I wish the magic which would have restored me to human form to be used in some good work. So I speak, so I intend.**

"And so let it be done," said the four women as one. A bright haze hovered over the two wolves for a moment, then was gone.

James sighed. "So. Now we just have to make a really hard decision. I assume it has to be a willing sacrifice?" he asked the women, who all nodded. He looked back at the group. "So. Who's it going to be?"

Silence. Lily knew what everyone must be thinking; it was the same as what she was thinking herself.

_Who among us would really be willing to die for a friend? That's supposed to be the surest test of friendship, but it's not exactly one you want to undergo, or have one of your friends try out for size... it's a little too permanent for most people. _

_But Evanie was willing. She threw herself in front of that curse without even a second thought. _

_Who is going to take her place?_

"I'll do it."

It was her own voice.

"No," said James quickly, stepping forward to her side. "Let me. I'll do it."

Sirius shook his head. "No way. I will."

"Oh, like hell you will," said Aletha angrily. "Move over."

**You know, if this wasn't so serious, it would be damned funny,** said Danger. **All of us shoving and arguing over who gets to die. And I'd like to put my vote in. **

**It would sound rude to say I'd already done my part, wouldn't it?** asked Remus. **I'm ready. **

"Now this is a problem we haven't had before," said Margaret, the corners of her mouth twitching. "Too many people volunteering for this particular post."

"And there's only one fair way to solve it," said Sophia. "You'll have to draw lots."

"Allow me." Brenna held out her hand, and a length of shining white yarn appeared in it. Sophia touched it, and it was marked in blue, five equal lengths and one longer. Margaret passed her hand over it, and it was cut. Maura accepted the lengths and held them so that no one could see which was the long one.

"The magic on them will allow you to see which is the long one only after they have all been drawn," she warned. "So that no one can cheat."

"Good luck, everyone," said James, stepping forward to draw.

**That's the most ironic thing I've ever heard.** Remus took one of the threads delicately between his teeth and pulled.

**On three, then**, said Danger, hiding her string with a paw. **One, two, three. **

Six strings were displayed.

Sirius held the longest one.

Aletha turned away for a moment. When she turned back, her face was again as calm as it had been directly after the battle. "You'll go, then," she said distantly.

"Yes." Sirius closed his hand around the string again. "Yes. I'll go."

"I will miss you."

"I know. I'll miss you too."

"May I ask you one question?"

"Go ahead."

"Would you have married me?"

"Of course."

Lily surreptitiously wiped her eyes on her sleeve as Sirius and Aletha embraced. James' bottom lip had disappeared, and his eyes were gleaming oddly behind his glasses.

Remus stropped against Sirius' legs. **See you on the other side,** he said. **Don't forget us – we'll be along eventually. **

"Don't worry, I won't." Sirius rubbed Danger's ears playfully. "Have fun with your new form. And watch out for this one." He punched Remus' side. "He sometimes forgets how sharp those teeth are."

**I will.** Danger shoved her nose into Sirius' palm. **Good riddance, you mangy mutt.**

Sirius stood up and faced James. "Guess we won't be partners, then, Prongs," he said with an attempt at a smile. "Sorry about that. Hope they don't pair you with anyone too hopeless."

"I'll whip 'em into shape if they do." James' return smile was as bad as Sirius'. "First kid gets named after you. That's a promise."

"I'll be watching." Sirius hugged James once, hard, then turned to Lily. "Take care of him," he said. "He gets silly when he's drunk, and that's not counting all the stupid stuff he does when he's sober."

"I know." Lily threw her arms around Sirius, fighting tears with all her might. She wouldn't be the first to cry, she wouldn't, she wouldn't – not with Aletha, who was losing so much more than she was, standing as strong and proud as an ebony statue. She wouldn't disgrace her friend that way.

Sirius turned around. "I'm almost ready," he said, his voice shaking almost imperceptibly. "If I could say goodbye to Peter..."

Maura waved. The Privacy Spell around the bed dissipated.

"Hey, Wormtail," said Sirius gently, kneeling down beside Peter, who was still where he had been, shoulders shaking. "I gotta go, okay? I'll see you some other time. Take care of yourself, and don't get eaten by anything 'cause I'm not there to save you, all right?"

"What are you talking about?" Peter lifted his head to look hard at Sirius. "What's going on?"

"Getting you your girl back," said Sirius. "You deserve her, Wormtail. I've never seen you so happy as when you're with her. And she needs you. So take good care of her – I don't want to do this for nothing, understand?"

"Do what?" Peter looked at the others, confused. "Why do I always miss everything?"

"Sirius is taking Evanie's place," said Margaret. "She will live. He will die."

Sirius swallowed hard. "Kind of hard to think about, when you put it like that," he said lightly, but Lily could hear fear beneath his words. Aletha didn't seem to be breathing, her eyes fixed on the two boys by the bed.

Peter's eyes widened in incredulous hope. "You mean she – and you–" He looked from Sirius, to Evanie, to Sirius again, and suddenly hugged him hard. "Thank you," he said, his voice breaking. "Thank you, thank you, thank you – I don't deserve a friend like you–"

"Hey, don't overreact, here," Sirius protested. "Everyone wanted to do it. I just won the draw."

"Everyone?" Peter's face was almost radiant, and Lily wondered suddenly if this was how Evanie saw him. If so, she could understand the younger girl's perspective. This Peter was one that a woman could love. "Thank you – so much–" Tears were streaming down his face, but he didn't seem to care. "I'll never forget this, Sirius. Never."

"You'd better not. I'll come back and beat you over the head for a while if you do." Sirius stood up. "Now I'm ready," he said. "Can it be – quick?" His voice quivered a bit on the last word.

"Of course," said Margaret, stepping forward to stand a few feet from Sirius, eye to eye with him. "You are a brave man, Sirius Black."

"Of course I am. I'm a Gryffindor." Sirius held his head high.

Margaret lifted her hand to touch his forehead.

* * *

(A/N: I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. It was so perfect. And since no one remembered that it would be July at midnight, and Alex was allowed to come and do his thing in July, I feel justified in writing one more awful terrible cliffy. 

"The End of the End" is coming... doesn't that sound like it should be on a sign carried by some dude with a long beard who hasn't washed his hair in a year? But anyway. It's coming, it's probably coming tomorrow, and remember two things:

1) Reviewing makes the author very happy.  
2) A happy author is more likely to write a happy ending.

So, if you want a happy ending – review! And has anyone else read Robert Heinlein?)


	16. Chapters 14 and 15: The End of the End

(A/N: Once more, BYOT warning, but this time for the happy as well as the sad.)

* * *

Chapters 14 and 15: The End of the End

Sirius forced himself not to flinch, to look directly at the red-haired woman reaching for his forehead.

_Is this going to hurt? Will I know it's happening? And what happens to me after it's over?_

Part of him wanted to run away, fight against it, anything but just standing here, but he'd volunteered and taken his chance, and this was how it had fallen out.

He couldn't watch the hand any more, it was too close to him, he'd go cross-eyed if he did, and he didn't want to die cross-eyed...

"Wait!"

_Oh, come on. _Sirius did not groan, but it was close. _Reggie, you little snot, what do you want? Can't you just let me get it over with?_

"What is it?" asked Maura.

"I need to talk to him," said Regulus. Sirius turned to look at his brother. His friends had parted down the middle like the Red Sea, allowing him a clear view. Regulus' face was twisted with an emotion Sirius couldn't readily identify. Whatever it was, Regulus obviously wasn't used to feeling it, and it was making him highly uncomfortable. "Can I? May I?"

Margaret stepped back. "Privately?" she asked.

"Please." Regulus came forward, seemingly unaware of everyone else's eyes on him, his gaze fixed on Sirius. He stopped a few feet away, and a Privacy Spell appeared around them.

"This had better be damn good," warned Sirius.

"I just had to tell you something. Before... you know."

"Yeah, I know. Get on with it."

Regulus had a fold of his robes in a death grip. "Why did you have to be so good?" he burst out.

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you have to be so good at everything? I mean, you're good-looking, you're smart, you play jokes that make everyone laugh, you have friends, you have a girlfriend, you play Quidditch, you're going to be an Auror..."

Sirius could suddenly identify the emotion on Regulus' face.

It was envy.

_He envies me? He's the perfect pureblood son, the darling of the family, and he envies me?_

"I've always wanted to be like you." Regulus stopped. "No, that isn't right. I've always wanted to be _better_ than you. At something. Anything. Just once. To see what it feels like. But you've always been the best at everything you tried. Everything came easily to you. It never seemed to bother you that Mother didn't like you, or Father. You did what you wanted. I needed their approval. I could never fight against them like you did."

"You never tried."

"I did!" Regulus was pacing around the inside of the Privacy Spell now, Sirius matching his movements, so that the two of them always stayed at opposite ends of the circle. They looked like two animals stalking each other, Sirius thought. "I did try. But I never managed it. I always lost my confidence when Mother would give me that look, or Father would start going on about my duty to the house and the line, since you turned out the way you did." Regulus looked up from the floor and met Sirius' eyes. "I never thought you turned out so bad."

"All right, who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"Shut up!"

"There, that sounds more like you."

"You don't understand..."

"No, I don't. Thank you for telling me this, it's a great ego booster, but is there something else involved here, or can we get to the main event of the evening? I'd rather not wait any longer than I have to."

"That's the point – that's what I wanted to talk to you about – what you're doing." Regulus gulped. "Are you really going to _die?_ Just stand there and let her _kill _you?"

_The same question I've been asking myself ever since I saw that string. _"It has to happen. Someone has to go for Evanie to be able to come back."

"But why you?"

"I pulled the long string."

"I know that! I mean, why did you speak up? Why not just keep your mouth shut?"

"I wasn't about to let James have all the fun."

"You think this is _fun?_"

_What the hell. No one else can hear this._ "You want the truth? No. I don't think this is fun. I am scared out of my pants right now, and the only thing keeping me from running away as fast as I possibly can..." Sirius trailed off.

"What?"

"Well, I guess there's more than one thing," said Sirius slowly, thinking it over. "In fact, I guess there's a lot of things. Seeing Peter's face when he realized Evanie was dead. I felt like I would have done anything to make that look in his eyes go away. And now I've got that chance. I don't want to blow it."

"What else?" Regulus looked fascinated.

_Morbid little SOB, aren't you?_ "There's just plain old stubbornness for another. I said I'd do it, and I'll do it. And then there's how I'd look if I tried to back out now. I think once Lily volunteered, it was kind of inevitable that we all would – James wouldn't want her to do it, I wouldn't want James to, Letha wouldn't want me to, and so on – but once I said I'd do it, I was committed. It's not like this is something I can just ask somebody else to do."

"Why not?"

Sirius frowned. _Doesn't he understand anything? Damn it, I don't think I can explain this..._ "Reggie, are you trying to make this harder for me?"

"No!"

"Then can we just let it go, say goodbye, and get done here? Thank you for the compliments, I'll treasure them forever." Sirius knew he sounded sarcastic, and he didn't care. "Do me a favor – tell Mother I finally did something to make her happy. It's what she's been telling me to do for years. Drop dead."

"You don't understand!" exploded Regulus again.

"Then why don't you quit farting around and try to explain?"

"Fine! I want to do it for you!"

Sirius had his mouth open to retort, and left it that way for a few seconds. _He wants to _what?

"You want to _what?_"

"Don't you see? This is my big chance." Regulus' eyes looked oddly desperate, Sirius thought, like a man holding onto a rope over a cliff...

_Enough with the death analogies already. _

"One way or another, this is my last chance to be better than you at something."

_That's true... if I'm not around, he can't very well be better than me... people do tend to lionize the dead. Not that I don't deserve it._ Sirius preened a little, mentally.

"I thought I was going to die tonight already." Regulus looked at the Privacy Spell, in the direction where Sirius knew his friends were waiting. "When the Dark Lord saw in my mind what I did. I thought he was going to kill me. And I begged. I went down on my knees and begged him to let me live. I was disgusting, I was pitiful – and it wouldn't even have gotten me anything if your friends hadn't been what they are..."

_That's right, James said he found Reggie in with Remus and Danger – if they'd been real werewolves, they would have ripped him apart..._

"I watched them. When Malfoy was going to do Cruciatus on them. They fought over who was going to take it – they _wanted_ to take it. I guess so the other one didn't have to. I don't understand that. I'd do anything to keep from getting hit with the Cruciatus."

_You've never loved anyone, though, have you?_

"And now you. You volunteered for this, all of you – you fought over this too – you all drew lots like you were just seeing who got the Quaffle first in Quidditch – and you didn't even flinch when it turned out to be you. You said goodbye to everyone like you'd see them all tomorrow. And you stood there and watched it coming." Regulus laughed a little, weakly. "You're even better than me at dying. But I guess that's why you're a Gryffindor. Courage and all that."

"Yeah, I guess."

Grey eyes met grey. "Why can you do that? Where do you get it from?"

"The courage?"

Regulus nodded.

"Don't know. Some of it, I've always had. Some of it, I think I got when I made friends with James and Remus and Peter. But a lot of it I came by when I fell in love with Aletha. Being in love makes you braver than anything, and the world's biggest coward, all at the same time. I'd do anything to keep her from getting hurt."

"So you're going to die?" sneered Regulus with a flash of his old self. "As if that won't hurt her?"

"We all took our chance, Reggie. She knows that as well as I do."

"But–" Regulus looked all around their little enclosure once, then brought his eyes back to Sirius. "You don't have to. Let me do it instead."

_That's what I thought he said – but he can't mean it..._

"You've got all of them – you've got _her_ – and they don't want you to die. I don't have anyone. Except Mother, and she can..." His suggestion was colorful and probably anatomically impossible.

"I've been telling her that for years," said Sirius, his mouth working in automatic witty comment mode while his mind was otherwise occupied.

_He's actually willing to do this for me? No way. This can't be real. Can't be happening. _

_But that's what I thought about this whole me dying business, and I haven't woken up yet..._

"It's my big chance," said Regulus again. "My chance to do something you've never done. To do something everyone will think is really great, without everyone comparing me to you. I know they do, even when they say they don't. It's really hard not to compare us. And I come off worst every way." He tried a smile, which almost made it to his eyes before vanishing. "I used to say I'd die for a chance to look better than you. I guess I meant it."

Everything Sirius hadn't dared to feel was starting to come back. All his love for Aletha and his friendship for James and Remus and Peter and the other girls, how much he'd wanted to be an Auror and make his world safer, his and Aletha's dreams of the future –

_We wanted to make a home together. We wanted children, lots of them. We were going to have extras so Remus and Danger could borrow a few, and James and Lily were going to have extra for Peter and Evanie. _

"Do you really mean this?"

"Swear on my magic." Reggie drew an X on his chest. "Cross my heart and..." He smiled, this time a real one. "And hope to die."

Sirius burst out laughing, and almost couldn't stop. It took all the self-control he'd learned over the years, including the parcel he'd acquired this winter when everyone was ignoring him, to bring himself back to something like normality.

"I guess you're not so bad after all, Reg," he said with the first real affection he'd felt for his brother in...

_Too long. Much too long. _

Regulus smiled again, bashfully. "You wouldn't believe how much I've wanted to hear you say that."

"C'mere." Sirius gave his brother a huge bear hug, messing his hair up. "I'll tell the world about this. And all my kids, too. Same deal James made with me – first kid I have, named after you. First boy," he corrected himself. "Don't think a girl would thank me for Regula."

"A boy won't thank you for Regulus, either," said Reggie dryly, hugging him back. "Believe me, I know. Make it a middle name if you have to."

"It's a deal." Sirius let Regulus go. "So how do we get out of this thing?"

The Privacy Spell was abruptly gone. Sirius opened his mouth to explain what had happened, but Maura cut him off. "Is it decided?"

_They know? I thought that was supposed to be private! That's not fair! _

"It was private from those from whom it needed to be private," said Brenna quietly. "Very little is hidden from us."

"It is decided, is it not?" asked Sophia.

"Yes." Regulus was standing between Sirius and the women, facing them. "It's decided."

Sirius didn't dare look at his friends yet, he knew he'd go to them if he did, and this was Reggie's moment. He deserved all the support Sirius could give him.

Margaret came forward again and stood in front of Regulus. "Well done," she said with a smile of approval, and reached out quickly to touch him gently in the middle of the forehead.

Regulus collapsed. Sirius caught him and lowered him to the ground, holding his brother in his arms and looking down at him. He wasn't gone yet – there was still life in his eyes –

"It didn't hurt," Reggie whispered.

Sirius smiled down at him, not bothering to stop his tears from coming. "So. How's it feel to be better than me at something?"

"Feels... pretty good..." Regulus' eyes closed, and he took one last shallow breath, then let it out, and didn't breathe in again.

Everything seemed a little dimmer, a little quieter, than it should have been, as if they were inside a Privacy Spell, though Sirius knew they weren't.

_Things like this ought to take a little longer. _

So much haste seemed almost indecent. Regulus had been alive only a few seconds before – arguing with him only seconds before that –

_And I spent so many years thinking of him as my spoiled-brat little brother, not worth a brass Galleon. I even wished this would happen – "I hope he joins the Death Eaters and gets killed, the little sod." _His insides twisted in guilt. _Now, suddenly, I wish I'd done more for him. Could I have helped him? Maybe he never would have gone bad if I'd been there for him._

_They say you never know what you've got until it's gone..._

He slid one arm under Reggie's knees and the other under his back, and picked his brother's body up. The face so like his own was relaxed and peaceful, in a way Regulus had never been in life.

_Rest in peace, you little brat. Thanks for everything._

He laid Regulus on the empty bed Peter had occupied earlier and picked up the discarded sheet that had covered Evanie, draping it gently over the still form.

_You really weren't so bad after all. _

"Padfoot?"

Sirius wiped his eyes and turned around. "We're back on, Prongs," he said, letting another of his tumultuous emotions come to the surface.

Joy.

_I'm going to live. I'm going to live, and go on living – _

_And there's no more Voldemort. No more Death Eaters. The war's over. _

"He took your place," said Lily in a hushed tone, looking from Sirius to the body on the bed. "Didn't he?"

"Yeah." Sirius grinned. "You'll have to put up with me for a while longer."

**Oh, no, we won't.** Danger stalked forward. **Not after I kill you for scaring us all like that. **She leaped on him.

"Help!" Sirius squirmed but couldn't get out from under the merciless wolf. "No, no, please not that – argh!" He began to laugh uncontrollably as Danger ferociously licked the most ticklish spot on his neck. "Stop it!" He finally got enough control and breath to push her off his chest. "How'd you know about that?"

**Letha told me.** Danger looked extremely smug.

**And you'd better go catch her before she falls over,** added Remus.

Aletha did indeed look a little wobbly on her feet. Sirius got up quickly and crossed to her, taking her in his arms. "Hey," he said tenderly, looking into her eyes. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere now."

She leaned against him and shut her eyes. "Don't _ever_ do that to me again," she whispered, her arms sliding around him. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You're strong. You would have made it. I know you. But now you don't have to."

"I know. And I just have one question for you."

"Yeah?"

She looked up at him with her old mischievous spirit in her eyes. "Are you still going to marry me?"

Sirius kissed her on the cheek. "As soon as you finish school."

"We'll wait for you," said James, grinning at him. "Double wedding, next summer."

"And then we'll have one with Remus and Danger, when she and I get out of school," said another voice.

"Hey, Selene!" Sirius released Aletha to pick Evanie up and spin her around once or twice. "Good to see you back."

When he put her down, Evanie retained her hold on the front of his robes, pulled his face down to hers, and kissed him on the lips. "That's for what you wanted to do for me," she said. "I don't deserve friends like you."

"Nobody does." Peter was beaming – you might actually be able to read by that smile in a dark room, Sirius thought. "And now Voldemort's gone. The war's over."

**Hey, that's true,** said Danger. **So this has been a pretty good night all around.** She yawned. **And I am going to be exhausted as soon as I get off this adrenalin high. **

**I think we all are, **said Remus. **We should probably get out of here at some point...**

"Excuse me," said a man's voice. The wizard in yellow robes, brown-haired and sturdy, was standing where the four women had been a few moments before. "Maura and the girls had to go, but they asked me to finalize something for you. You two, Lupin, Granger, come here a second, please?"

**What now?**

"Just a formality." He touched each of their heads in turn. "There. You'll be able to talk in your thoughts like you do now to anyone in your line of sight, or anyone you know is there if they're out of sight, in the next room, say. If you have to be stuck as animals, the least we can do is let you communicate."

**Thank you,** said Remus gratefully. **I'd been wondering how long this was going to last. **

"But you can also talk to each other without anyone else hearing you. And that's not line-of-sight restricted. You'll have to experiment, but you might even be able to talk over long distances."

**Cool. Thanks.**

"You're welcome." The man looked up as a woman also dressed in yellow joined them. "Hi, Mum. I'm just finishing."

"So I see." The woman, with brown hair going silver, smiled at everyone. "I do so love a happy ending," she said. "And I have some advice for you." She knelt down beside Danger and scratched behind her ears. "You would be amazed what can be shared these days." She stroked Remus' head. "And things often look very different in the light of the sun." She stood up. "Excuse us, please, we need to talk to Frank before we have to go."

Remus cocked his head to one side, watching the two yellow robes recede across the room. **What was that about?**

**Who knows.** Danger yawned again. **Anyone else for getting back to Hogwarts ASAP? I need a good night's sleep before I figure out how to break it to my parents that their daughter's now a wolf. **

"And I should probably get some rest before I have to tell Mum about this," said Sirius, looking back at Regulus' body. "She's going to hit the ceiling..."

"Everything will be dealt with," said Professor Dumbledore, appearing beside them.

_How does he do that?_

"Your brother's body will be returned to your parents in the morning, after they have been notified, Sirius. You do not need to be the one to break the news."

"I know, sir. But I want to. I think I owe it to him."

"If you wish." Dumbledore bent down and picked up a large chunk of plaster. "_Portus,_" he said, tapping it with his wand and placing it on the floor. Everyone gathered around it, the humans kneeling to touch it with their hands, the wolves putting paws on it.

"I shall send you to one of the guest suites, so that you wake no one. The house-elves will bring your personal items around, and I will visit you in the morning to work out arrangements for everything." Dumbledore raised his wand. "One... two... three..."

The Portkey activated. Sirius closed his eyes, feeling Aletha on one side of him, James on the other, and the blissful feeling of rushing towards the one place he'd always thought of as home.

* * *

The suite was capacious, with three bedrooms, a large living room, and a balcony looking out over the grounds and the Forest. Their trunks arrived a few moments after they did, and that left them with only the decision of who should sleep where. 

Aletha took a good look at Peter and Evanie and ordered them both to bed, shooing them into one of the bedrooms, telling them not to bother about getting undressed. They lay down on top of the covers of the double bed, Evanie's head resting against Peter's shoulder, and were asleep before Aletha shut the door.

"And now you," she said, turning to Sirius. "Come, doggy. Come."

Sirius transformed into Padfoot and followed her into another bedroom, letting his tongue hang out just a trifle more than was really necessary, and kicked the door shut with his back paw.

**I suppose she wants to make sure he's real,** said Danger. **Nothing wrong with that.**

"His mother really is going to have a fit," said James. "She's Muggleborn, half-American, and black. And he's the only heir now... why d'you suppose Regulus did that?"

Remus shrugged. **Whyever he did, I'm very glad of it. I'd miss that ugly old Grim if he died. **

"As would we all," said Lily. "So, where are we going to sleep?"

The wolves looked at each other. **If you can spot us a blanket to lie on, we'll go out on the balcony,** said Remus. **It's a warm night, and we have fur. Besides, animals belong outdoors.**

"Don't start on that," said Lily firmly. "You're as human as you ever were. Only people who don't know you won't be able to see that."

**But that's going to be the problem, isn't it?** Danger asked Remus privately. **People who don't know us. **

**Yes – let's talk about this when we're alone, all right?**

**Fine.**

James came back out of the bedroom, carrying an armload of blankets. "I'll sleep on the couch in here," he said. "Here's yours, Moony." He dropped one large fluffy blanket to the floor.

"What's this about a couch, James Potter? Isn't there a perfectly good bed in there?"

"Well, yeah, but that's for you."

"It's a double, Potter. There's room for both of us."

Remus sniffed. **Is James blushing?** he asked Danger privately.

**I think he is.** Danger wolf-grinned at the look on James' face. **Yes, he's blushing. **

"Evans, I'll really be all right on the couch. You don't want to sleep with – er, next to – me. I kick."

Lily lifted an eyebrow. "Well, I have to get used to it sometime, don't I?"

The embarrassment smell coming off James redoubled.

"But I won't make you if you don't want to," Lily relented, laughing gently. "I love you. Sleep well." She kissed his cheek and went into the bedroom.

James stared after her for a moment, then looked down at the wolves. "What do I do now?"

**Oh, no,** said Remus. **You're not dragging us into this. Deal with it yourself.** He took the blanket in his teeth and headed for the door onto the balcony. **Shut the door, please?**

"Sure." James made sure Danger's tail was safely through before he closed the door securely.

**Excellent,** said Danger, examining the door more closely. **Handle, not knob. We'll be able to get back in. As long as it's not locked. **She twiddled it with a paw. **Nope, it's open. **

**Give me a hand with this? Figuratively speaking, of course?** Remus was trying to lay the blanket flat, but it was hard with only one angle to pull from at a time. With Danger's teeth and paws added to his own, it was much easier. He walked onto it, turned around three times, and lay down. _Funny how I always used to take little things for granted... like hands, and beds, and being human at all..._

Danger lay down next to him, in a pose Remus thought must make them look like a large furry yin-yang. **What's on your so-called mind?**

**Life. The universe. Everything. **

**So long, and thanks for all the fish. **

Remus chuckled. **That too. But mostly, us. **

**That's a nice word. Us. I like there being an us. **

**I like it too. But I would rather it had happened before this. **Remus lifted his head to look at Danger. **I'm going to miss kissing you. **

**I know. I'll miss it too. But we can still be affectionate.** Danger pulled herself around the curve of his back until her head was alongside his. **Like so.** She started to lick around one of his ears.

Remus made a little moaning noise. **Cut that out. **

**Why? Don't you like it?**

**Yes. Too much. Please – before I do something I'll regret...**

**If you say so. **Danger's tone was brisk, not teasing, and she uncoiled from around him and curled up a short distance away without being asked. **You are very much the gentleman, as always.**

**Thank you. **

**I'm seventeen in December, you know. We could get married then. **

**What about Peter and Evanie? **

**They have to wait until Evanie finishes school. But I don't think we do. It's unlikely I'll be going back. **Danger regarded her paws. **Hard to use a wand with these.**

**Yes.** Remus closed his eyes and allowed himself a moment of regret for everything they'd never do. He'd never play his violin for her, or take her out flying. He'd never hear her sunny laugh or see what she looked like when she cried. He'd never kiss her and run his hands through her hair and feel the smooth skin of her face next to his.

But he said none of this. **We're going to have to think about what to do with our lives,** he said instead. **We can't live off our parents forever. **

**True. But that brings up another question. Our parents. **

**Yes. **Remus sighed. **You mentioned breaking the news to yours. How do you think they'll react? **

**I'm not sure.** Danger shifted her weight to her side, flopping over loosely with her legs dangling below her. **They were always a little hesitant about sending me to witch school. I have a feeling my mum is going to say "I told you so" a lot. But I can tell you one thing they'll be delighted about. **

**What?**

**You.**

**Me? The bloke who got you into this?**

**Excuse me? I got myself into this, thank you very much.** Danger glared at him. **And that's not how I'm planning on introducing you to them. You and they share a number of interests, I'll have you know. **

**Oh, really? What?**

**Three in particular. Literature, music, and me. **

**Well, I wouldn't call you an interest. **

**I'm sorry?** Her tone could have etched metal.

**Not for me, anyway. You're more of an obsession. **

**Oh, you.** Danger chuckled. **That's as bad as what I used to pull when I was little. I was a picky eater, and my mum would make me new dishes to try. So I would have a bite and make a face. "I don't like it." Then I would let her get all worked up about how I hadn't tried enough of it, I just needed to keep going, and I'd break into a big smile and say, "I don't like it, I love it!"**

Remus laughed. **That is terrible. **

**So don't worry about my parents. They'll adore you, for your own sake and for mine. They've been worried for years that I would end up an old maid – they never said so in so many words, but you know how they get. **

**Yes. I do.** Remus thought of his father's calm questions about Danger, and had to admit that the old man had seen something Remus hadn't seen himself. _He knew, and I'm sure Mum knew, and it seems like the girls knew, and the other boys have been acting like they knew... I think everybody knew about this but me..._

**They'll be over the moon that I've finally found someone. Even if we do both have fur and four legs now. They'll find some way to let us come and visit them, and your parents – how are they going to take this?**

**Hmm. **Remus thought about that. **I think they'll be happy and sad both. Happy, of course, because of us, and because I'm no longer a werewolf – I look like one, but I won't go mad on full moons. **

**Hey, that's right! That's wonderful! **

**And sad because I'm going to be like this my whole life.** Remus looked down at himself. **I know it could be a lot worse. But tell the truth, Danger. Couldn't it be a lot better too? **

**Of course it could. We got, if you'll pardon the term, royally screwed over by "Lord" Voldemort. **Danger's sneer quotes were vicious. **Maybe we'll make the history books as the last people to have their lives ruined by him... but I shouldn't say ruined. **Her tone became more reasonable. **This isn't ruined. We're alive, sane, healthy – you're healthier than ever before – and we have each other. I think this is a clear-cut case of "count your blessings". **

**True enough.** Remus got up and walked over to her, lying down again against her back. **Especially that last one. **

**Yes.** Danger squirmed slightly, snuggling up to him. **I do fit here surprisingly well. **

**Why surprisingly?** Remus yawned. **It's obvious we were made for each other. **

**Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say things like that?**

**Probably about as long as I have...**

The moon shone on the two wolves, asleep together on the balcony.

* * *

"Danger." 

"Hmm?"

"Danger, wake up."

_Wake up? _

_Oh yeah, stretch, yawn, open the eyes, and all that good stuff. _

She stretched her arms above her head, curling her fingers into fists, and it wasn't until she got to the yawn part that she realized something.

_Arms? Fingers?_

Her eyes shot open of their own accord.

Remus – the _human_ Remus – was sitting beside her on the blanket, which was damp with dew. He was still wearing his robes from the feast the night before, but his face was filled with a joyous light.

Danger looked incredulously down at herself. Arms, hands, fingers and fingernails – her face round and smooth as she ran her hand across it – and colors, she'd never realized how much she liked seeing colors –

"What happened?" she whispered.

Remus shook his head. "I don't know. But I like it. And I think we should take advantage of it while it lasts..."

She was in his arms before he was done speaking.

"I love you," he murmured in her ear, stroking her hair and her face, holding her close with his other arm. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," she whispered, caressing his back with her hands, wonderful hands, but not as wonderful as his, which were now places she wasn't quite sure they should be, but didn't really care...

A discreet hoot made them both look up. An owl sat on the railing, holding a note in its beak.

"Who're you after, then?" asked Remus, taking the note. He read the superscription. "It's for us, it seems," he said to Danger as the owl flapped off. "Shall I open it?"

"Please." Danger sat with her knees drawn up, enjoying the pose as she'd never thought she would. Her human self suddenly seemed so much more versatile than it had.

Remus slit the parchment open. "'Dear Mr. Lupin and Miss Granger,'" he read. "'I hope this letter finds you well, and rejoicing in the possessing of your human bodies once more. I must caution you that this transformation is not permanent...'"

Danger sighed. "Knew it was too good to last."

"No, wait, there's more. 'Nor is your lupine shape your permanent one.'"

"Then what is?" asked Danger in confusion.

"Maybe it says." Remus continued reading. "'Miss Granger was kind enough to return the gift of her human shape unused. It could therefore be split into two parts and used for both of you. You are both, as of this writing, physically half human and half wolf. Your human shape will be dominant during the day, and your wolf shape during the night. At no time will you lose your human minds, though these may be more affected by wolf instinct than they had previously been.'"

Danger inhaled sharply. "Day and night – that woman, the one who wore yellow – telling us how things look different in the light of the sun – she was trying to tell us about this!"

Remus looked back at the letter excitedly. "'Your thought-speech powers between yourselves remain in force, though only in wolf shape will you be able to speak to others in this way. I would advise you to remain acquainted with Severus Snape, since potions might be available, or discoverable, to allow you to retain one form or another beyond the usual time limit."

"In case we wanted to stay human past sunset for something like a banquet or a party." Danger nodded.

"'I hope this fulfills Miss Granger's stipulation that the magic be used in a good cause...'" Remus snickered. "Does it?"

"Stop being stupid and just finish it." Danger smacked him with the back of her hand.

"'... since she did not specify whose good should come from it. With best wishes for your continued health and happiness, GG.'"

"GG?"

"That's how it's signed. Whose initials could those be?"

Danger laughed. "Mine, but I didn't write this."

"Yours?"

"Gertrude Granger."

"Oh. That's right." Remus smiled. "I always forget 'Danger' isn't your real name."

"I'd almost rather it was. I hate Gertrude."

"How do you feel about Granger?"

"Why?"

"Just wondering how you'd feel about changing it to something a little shorter and more elegant."

"Something like Lupin, you mean?"

"Yes, something along those lines."

"Would you hate me if I wanted to hyphenate it?"

"Granger-Lupin?"

"Yes."

Remus considered. "I wouldn't hate you," he said. "I like it. Gertrude Granger-Lupin."

"Fourth of December," said Danger as the first rays of the sun broke over the trees of the Forest. "That's my birthday."

Remus nodded. "We can get married on the fifth, then," he said.

Danger laughed. "We'll have to check on the policies for married students at Hogwarts," she said. "My education's back on." She made a face. "I still have to take N.E.W.T.s, yuck."

"They're not so bad," said Remus.

"This from the school brainiac. And what about the Department of Mysteries?"

"What about them?"

"Did you ever hear back from them?"

"No, I never did. They were probably just hoping I'd go away if I didn't hear anything."

"Or maybe they were trying to decide about it," countered Danger. "And now you can reapply, since you're not a werewolf any more."

Remus blinked and looked back down at the letter. His finger traced along two or three lines until he found the passage he wanted. "'At no time will you lose your human minds,'" he read slowly. "At _no_ time."

"Not even on the full moon." Danger grinned. "Although we might spend some time with Selene, for old times' sake. She's got Peter, so she'll be fine – I'd bet anything he'll make time to come back here for full moons..." She stopped talking and looked at Remus, who didn't appear to have heard a thing she'd said. "Hello, anyone home?" She waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Earth to Remus, come in, Remus."

"Sorry," said Remus, jerking back to life and shaking his head. "Just – give me a minute." He stared down at his hands. "I've been a werewolf all my life that I can remember. I thought I always would be. For it just to be gone, just like that – it's going to take me some time to get used to. It's amazing, it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me, but I think I'm still in shock."

"One of the best things?"

"Of course." He looked up and smiled at her. "You're _the_ best."

"Now how am I supposed to resist you when you say things like that to me?" complained Danger.

Just before she pounced on him again.

**Now, we have to figure out how to tell everyone else,** she said a few minutes later mentally, her mouth being otherwise occupied at the moment.

**Why? All we have to do is walk in there and they'll know. **

**Good point. But I meant the whole day-night bit. **

**That doesn't seem so hard. "We're going to have the shapes of humans during the day and wolves at night. We won't hurt anyone or destroy anything. We remain ourselves throughout. And we're going to get married in December."**

**Aww. Can't we wait for Wormtail and Selene?**

**Well, if you insist.** Remus sighed exaggeratedly. **What am I supposed to do for the next two years?**

**You mean if the Department of Mysteries turns you down?**

**Yes. **

**I'm sure Dumbledore would let you hang around here for a while. Poke around in the library, do some research. **

**On what?**

**Anything you like. Or you could get a Muggle job – day shift doesn't require getting up before sunrise or staying out until after sunset. **

**True. And I won't lose any time off them, since I won't have hard transformation nights any more...** Remus smiled dreamily. **I think I like this.**

**I think I like it too. **Danger rested her head on his chest.

Aletha opened the door to the balcony. "Breakfast is here," she began, then caught sight of them and stared.

Remus sat up, spilling Danger off him. "Boo," he said, grinning at her.

Aletha's scream of delight brought everyone else running, and the various exclamations, explanations, and celebrations took nearly half an hour, by which time breakfast was cold, but no one cared.

* * *

Sirius took Regulus' body home later that morning and told his parents the news, couching it in terms that made it seem as if Regulus had died in battle, taking a curse meant for Sirius. His father looked deeply disappointed, and his mother began to scream abuse at him. 

"I didn't have to come here," said Sirius loudly, cutting her off. "I only came because he asked me to. Because he wanted me to tell you what he'd done. Now. I'm going to become an Auror, and next summer I'm going to marry my girlfriend. And then I'm going to have children, as many as I can manage, and not for the sake of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, either." He threw as much scorn into the words as he could. "I'm going to have children because I like children. They'll be your grandchildren, if you ever deign to come and see them. You'll be perfectly welcome, as long as you leave your prejudices at home. If that's possible."

He turned and walked out.

_I tried, little brother,_ he thought in the hall, running his finger along a section of the paneling. _I did my best. And even if she blasts you off the tapestry for this, I hope it was worth it for you. _

* * *

It was a busy summer all around. 

Peter began his job at the bookstore, with Evanie working there as well, as she did most summers. The customers thought it was sweet the way they flirted as they passed in the aisles.

James and Sirius entered the Auror apprentice program, and were busy just about every day, taking classes, doing tests, and going out to field calls with their mentors, Frank (James) and Alice (Sirius) Longbottom. Lily apprenticed to a licensed midwife, and spent mornings at St. Mungo's on the Maternity Ward and afternoons making house calls. Aletha also volunteered at St. Mungo's, in between early studying for N.E.W.T.s.

"You're crazy," said Sirius, calling at her house one day to find her elbow-deep in books. "They're not for a whole year!"

"The earlier you prepare, the better," said Aletha absently. "Hand me that Charms text, would you?"

Remus met Danger's parents, who told him to call them David and Rose, or Dad and Mum, whichever he preferred. As she had predicted, they were quite happy to meet him, for his own sake as well as because he was their daughter's fiancé. He had many long conversations with David about 16th century dramatists and captivated Rose's heart by knowing Pachelbel's _Canon_, one of her favorite pieces ever. Danger, of course, was already a favorite with both his parents, who weren't surprised by the engagement one bit.

Both sets of parents were remarkably tolerant of their children's transformations. Remus' parents were, as he had thought they would be, ecstatic that his painful and dangerous transformations would never happen again. His mother admitted to him one night that she thought he made quite a handsome wolf.

Danger's father replaced all the doorknobs in their house with handles, which Danger could turn with a paw, and her mother started putting things in the refrigerator and pantry in containers which were the right size for a dainty wolf to pick up with her teeth, and which were sturdy enough to handle such treatment. The wolves were housetrained, of course, to the point of using the toilet like everyone else, although Danger did have one incident with her tail which she didn't find funny but everyone else thought was hilarious.

And one day about two weeks into vacation, Remus woke up to find an owl waiting for him, and the letterhead on the parchment made his heart beat a little faster.

_Department of Mysteries_

_Dear Mr. Lupin:_

_Due to a mix-up in the filing system, your application as an apprentice to this department was unfortunately lost until quite recently. It has been found and reviewed, and your qualifications are impressive. We would appreciate if you would arrange for an interview with one of our Department personnel at your earliest convenience. _

_Thank you,_

_Mr. E. E. Nigma, Department Head_

**What's making you so happy?** asked Danger groggily in his head.

Remus stared at the precious parchment, breathing shallowly through his mouth, which was stretched so wide in a smile he was surprised any air could get in at all. **I'm going to be an Unspeakable. **

**You already are unspeakable. Unspeakably annoying when you're so effing cheerful at this hour of the morning. But I'm happy for you. **She sent an image of a sleepy smile. **Go write an answer. **

Remus got out of bed to find parchment and quill, unable to stop smiling.

_At this point, I don't think my life can get any better. _

_But I'm always open to suggestions._

* * *

The Death Eaters who had been captured at the Great Battle (as everyone was now calling it) were tried and sentenced over the course of the summer. Several were Ministry employees, to everyone's shock. One was the son of Bartemius Crouch, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who had been a popular candidate for the next Minister of Magic whenever Millicent Bagnold retired. 

Crouch was ruthless, asking for the highest possible sentence on his son, life in Azkaban. Perhaps he was hoping to prove he had never had sympathies towards Voldemort, but it backfired on him. The outrage was tangible – who wanted a Minister of Magic who would send his own son to the dementors?

The eventual pick for Minister was Cornelius Fudge, a more or less capable career bureaucrat, though it was an open secret in the wizarding world that he owled Albus Dumbledore every morning for advice on his most difficult problems. One day late in October, Fudge found himself obliged to come to Hogwarts to ask Dumbledore's opinion of something in person.

It was a visit he would never forget.

* * *

"I'm afraid I didn't want to put this in a letter," said Fudge, brushing soot off his clothes. "Terribly sorry to disturb you at so late an hour, but I was busy all day, and the session on this is tomorrow, and I'm not at all sure what I should be doing with it..." 

"Perhaps it would help if you told me what the topic is," suggested Dumbledore politely.

Fudge looked at him oddly, but there was no sign of laughter in his face, unless one counted the sparkle in his eyes – _but that's always there. _"Oh, didn't I? Awfully sorry – werewolf rights."

"Werewolf rights?"

"Yes, we're under pressure again. Some group calling itself Magic for Humans – they're pushing for mandatory registration, open records, a law requiring werewolves to come to a central facility to transform – perhaps some kind of badge for them to wear, identifying them..."

Dumbledore nodded. "I see. Do you have a few minutes, Cornelius, or must you hurry away?"

"Oh, no, I'm free as long as you need me."

"Excellent. Will you have a seat, then? I would like you to meet two of my students, and a recent graduate, who have, shall we say, a unique perspective on this issue."

"By all means." Fudge sat down in one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"Would you all please pass the word," said Dumbledore to the portraits. "I would like Remus Lupin, Gertrude Granger, and Evanie Mead to come to my office as soon as possible."

A chorus of "Yes" and "Right away" answered him, and most of the portraits moved out of their frames.

"Tea, Cornelius?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, thank you – and perhaps, if you have them, those exquisite chocolate things I had the last time I was here..."

He was on his third chocolate cookie when the door creaked. "Here we are, Headmaster," said a girl's voice.

Fudge turned to look and spewed chocolate crumbs across the room. The girl was being paced by two enormous beasts – monsters –

**Good evening, Minister.**

It was a young man's voice, not high-pitched exactly but not deep, and very polite, but he was almost certain he hadn't heard it with his ears. And the closer of the two wolves was looking at him, with very intelligent-looking blue eyes –

_Wolves don't have blue eyes. _

**Minister Fudge, Professor, good evening,** said another voice, this one a young woman's. The second wolf turned brown eyes on him and nodded once, before looking at Dumbledore.

"May I introduce, Cornelius, Miss Evanie Mead, a sixth year student here at Hogwarts."

Fudge got up to shake hands with the girl, who he mentally classified as a bit dowdy and not too bright.

"Miss Gertrude Granger, also a sixth year."

The brown-eyed wolf lifted a paw with grave solemnity, and Fudge swallowed his thoughts that this might be some kind of joke and took it in his hand to shake it. "Pleased to meet you," he said, knowing he sounded inane, but unable to think of anything else to say.

"And Mr. Remus Lupin, an apprentice in the Department of Mysteries, currently assigned to basic research in the Hogwarts library."

_Good heavens, I've heard that name before – Nigma mentioned him the other day, as the brightest of the new blood, along with that boy with a genius for Potions, but his name I can't think of, and it doesn't matter anyway – but I suppose this isn't a joke after all..._

He shook hands, or paws, with the blue-eyed wolf.

"Would you tell these young people what you have told me, Cornelius?"

Fudge repeated his story. When he had finished, the girl looked wide-eyed and horrified, the wolves, as far as he could tell, considering.

"Thoughts?" asked Dumbledore.

"Some of it's not a bad idea," the human girl spoke first. "Like having a safe place for werewolves to transform. But if you have one big one, somebody who hates werewolves could try to kill them all on a full moon night, while they were all there. Maybe there could be four or five smaller ones, in different parts of the country, where werewolves could go. Or maybe there could be people at the Ministry who help werewolves make a safe place in their own homes, so they don't have to leave."

_Brighter than she looks, that one. _

**On that same note, I would definitely advise against open records,** said Granger. **That's like an invitation to bigots – here they are, come kill them. Or don't hire them. Or don't rent to them. Why should something that they can't help, which only happens one night of the month, dictate how they live the rest of the time?**

**Mandatory registration wouldn't be so bad,** said Lupin. **Most werewolves register anyway, or their families do it for them, to get what help there is – though there isn't much. **

"You speak from experience, Mr. Lupin?" asked Fudge warily.

**It's a long story, but yes. But there was something else on that agenda – a badge, or card, or some other method of identifying werewolves...**

"Yes, that was one of the last things they itemized. It seems quite logical to me..."

**Yes, and it seemed logical to someone else, too,** said Granger. **Label them so you know who they are at all times. The undesirables, those we don't want around. Do you know who labeled their undesirables with badges on their clothing, Minister?**

"No, I'm afraid I don't..."

**Have you ever heard of the Nazis?** asked Lupin.

"Yes, of course – a sect in Muggle Germany, about the time Grindelwald was in power."

**Do you know what they eventually did to their undesirables?**

"No. What?"

**They killed them. Six million of them. And it all started small – label them. Then restrict where they can live and what they can do. Then relocate them and make them work for the good of the country. And finally, kill them. **Lupin's voice was matter-of-fact, not accusing in the least. **I'm not saying you or this group have any plans of that sort. But truly horrible things can start very small.**

Fudge shuddered. "I understand," he said, putting his hat on. "Thank you, very much, all three of you, I'll keep this under consideration, and thank you, Dumbledore, for your time, I really must go, preparation for tomorrow..."

He continued babbling until he was actually in the Floo, and even a little then, and it was only when he stumbled out onto his own hearthstone that he regained the power of conscious thought.

_Six million dead? _

_And it all began with labeling them..._

He made his way into the library. He was going to do some studying on Muggle history.

* * *

(A/N: See, even Fudgie gets a little smarter in this universe... 

There, I told you it would be a happy ending! Is this satisfactory for everyone? Huh, huh, huh?

One more chapter (FanFiction-wise – two in terms of content and length, like this one), and then the story's over... maybe... :cackles evilly: There's still time before HBP, after all, and I have a warren full of plot bunnies here... this could almost be its own universe, and I thought it was just going to be a fluffball. Ain't life funny.)


	17. Chapters 16 and 17: A New Beginning

Chapters 16 and 17: A New Beginning

Sirius Black married Aletha Freeman on Saturday, 15 July, 1978, with James Potter and Lily Evans serving as best man and maid of honor. The next day, Sunday, 16 July, saw James and Lily's wedding, with Sirius and Aletha as best man and matron of honor. Both weddings were held in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, with Albus Dumbledore officiating. The Hall was decked with white flowers, and the house-elves created a delicious meal for the guests at the reception.

It surprised many who did not know the couples well that both weddings were held in the morning, and the reception occupied the afternoon, with lunch being served, instead of the more traditional afternoon wedding and evening dinner reception.

"It is summer, you know, and the sun doesn't go down until quite late," said Remus, trying to explain why his friends shouldn't arrange their weddings for his convenience. "And it really doesn't matter if we have to leave early. We don't mind."

"No, but we do," retorted Lily. "It would be rude of us to plan something you and Danger can't attend part of. I want you both there laughing when I smash cake into this idiot's face. Besides, I've never cared for dancing into the night."

James leered at her. "I think we'll find plenty to do that night anyway."

Lily slapped him with the scroll she was writing on. "Wash your mind out, Potter. We're not married yet."

To no one's surprise, Danger caught Aletha's bouquet, and Evanie caught Lily's.

Lily's parents, who had always been supportive of her learning to be a witch, were of course present at the wedding. To Lily's surprise, her sister Petunia, who had demonstrated a horror of anything remotely "abnormal", also attended, and brought her own fiancé.

Peter stared when Lily pointed them out. "Excuse me," he said after a moment, smiling broadly. "I need to go say hello to an old friend." He slipped out of his seat at the High Table and was making his way down before anyone could ask him what he meant.

"What in the world?" asked James, staring at his friend, who was talking animatedly at the rather porcine-looking man sitting next to Petunia Evans. He failed to see how that horse-faced creature and his lovely Lily could be related in any way whatsoever. And as for Petunia's taste in men...

Well, he had to assume that all the judgment in the family, as well as the looks, had gone to Lily instead of her sister.

"Small world," said Peter airily when he returned. "Remember how I told you once about Margie, Prongs? The girl I used to play with when I was little?"

"Yeah."

"That's her brother Vernon down there. How many degrees of separation would that be? I know him, he's marrying Petunia, who's Lily's sister, and she just married you, and we're friends..."

"So you're five degrees of separation from yourself," said Aletha.

Sirius looked him up and down a trifle blearily. "She's right," he said thickly. "There is two'f you, y'know."

"Letha, would you please take charge of your husband?" said Lily with a chuckle. "I think he's had quite enough to drink for tonight."

* * *

Both couples took a week-long honeymoon before moving into their homes, James and Lily in the house in Godric's Hollow, Sirius and Aletha into the London house Aletha had been renting half of. Sirius had bought it from the Muggle owner as a surprise wedding gift for his bride, so that she didn't have to move any of her things. 

Remus moved out of his parents' house and into one of the Blacks' spare bedrooms on the side of their house they weren't using, for which he paid them a reasonable but fairly low rent. His apprenticeship in the Department of Mysteries was going quite well, as far as anyone could tell, since he wasn't allowed to talk about nearly anything he did there. Not even Danger knew what his projects were from day to day.

Peter's salary at the bookstore had allowed him to rent a flat of his own, where he lived in the happy confusion of a bachelor. His models were always out on the tables in various stages of completion, and he almost never did the dishes. He also blithely disregarded the "no pets" policy, claiming that since the stray animals he took in never stayed more than one or two nights, they couldn't really be considered his pets. Evanie came over every few days to see his latest acquisitions, cajole him into cleaning up, and make dire threats about what would happen if he let the house look like this once they were married.

Aletha's apprenticeship as a Healer began shortly after she was married. This program was four years of training, where Auror was only three. Lily, on the other hand, would be a qualified midwife next year, able not only to attend births but to diagnose and treat most of the common illnesses that plagued pregnant witches, and simply to give advice and help if a witch needed it.

James and Sirius, having passed their first round of tests, got new mentors, since the Longbottoms worked almost exclusively with first year apprentices. Gideon and Fabian Prewett were men after their own hearts, having driven teachers crazy for their combined nine years at Hogwarts. They fought hard, drank hard, lived a bit wildly, and made it a point to visit their sister Molly every week or so and spoil her children rotten.

Lily had already met Molly Weasley in April, and exclaimed over her newborn twins, who were utterly darling and impossible to tell apart. She had also fallen hard for Molly's other children, who came to visit her with their father: solemn two-year-old Percy, energetic five-year-old Charlie, and intelligent seven-year-old Bill. Molly, for her part, liked the young midwife's apprentice very much, and invited her and her young friends to the Weasleys' home, the Burrow, whenever they cared to come.

Aletha said, a touch cynically, that if she had five children she'd invite people over as well, just to watch them for a few minutes. But she too had fallen for the charm of the young Weasleys, and took Molly up on the invitation often. On one of these visits, she was introduced to Molly's neighbor Anita Lovegood, and the two spent nearly an hour talking about a Healing potion for which Anita was researching improvements, with her own money, simply because she was interested.

Soon afterwards, St. Mungo's administration came calling at the Lovegoods', and Anita ended up being hired as extra expertise on two or three current research projects in the hospital. Aletha disclaimed having anything to do with this, claiming, with some truth, that a neophyte apprentice couldn't possibly have enough pull with administration to do anything of the sort. Anita did a little genealogical research, just enough to uncover the link between the well-respected Healer Andromeda Tonks and Aletha's husband, but held her peace about it. After all, her family could use the money, and it was work she enjoyed.

The Lovegoods and the Weasleys became well acquainted with the Blacks and the Potters, and with Remus and Peter, over the course of the next year. Danger and Evanie, meanwhile, enjoyed their last year at Hogwarts as fully as they could, taking up the mantle left them by their fiancés and making mischief all over the school.

Danger's prank involving certain staircases and a pot of glue was widely renowned, but nothing topped Evanie's convincing every portrait in the castle to hide for three days, then all come out at the stroke of midnight and make as much noise as they could. Dumbledore claimed that he had nearly been deafened by Armando Dippet yodeling "It's a Long Way to Tipperary".

Neither of the girls had high ambitions. Danger loved to read and learn, of course, but she knew herself well. "If that's all I do, I get so lost in it that I forget to live," she told Professor McGonagall in the traditional talk that the Head of House had with each student before they left Hogwarts. "Besides, I enjoy doing simple things too. Making a home pleasant, and enriching someone else's life. Maybe that makes me old-fashioned and not liberated, but so be it. It's part of who I am."

Evanie was even blunter. "I've never wanted to do anything great," she said. "I don't have the brains or the drive for it. I just want to be a wife and a homemaker. I'd hoped to be a mother, but I'll have to settle for being an auntie."

"It can be quite pleasant," said Professor McGonagall with a faint smile. "You can send the children home when they begin to trouble you."

Evanie laughed. "Very true."

Both girls passed their N.E.W.T.s, Danger with high scores in everything, Evanie with decent ones, except in Care of Magical Creatures, where she scored not only an O but got a special commendation. "One of the crups was sick, poor thing," she said. "He'd gotten into some chocolate, and you know how bad that is for them."

Danger nodded. "Thank heaven we don't have that problem." Their nighttime forms being werewolves instead of true wolves, she and Remus didn't have the dietary limitations of real canines, meaning they could eat chocolate without fear of harming themselves. She was very thankful for this. Remus might have done something desperate if denied chocolate for too long.

And so, on 21 July, 1979, Peter Pettigrew and Evanie Mead were married, and on 22 July, Remus Lupin was the last of the Marauders to unite in matrimony with his love, Gertrude Granger. The atmosphere on that Sunday was almost electric, as if the castle itself were celebrating their marriage.

Both sets of parents were present, both mothers crying happy tears. David Granger gave his daughter away, saying only to Remus, "Take care of her," before going to sit down.

Remus took the two steps which brought him to Danger's side and took her hand in his. She looked up at him with deep feeling in her eyes. He felt the little premonitory tickle in his mind which meant she was about to say something –

**Get off the dress.**

**What?**

**You're standing on my dress, I can't move. Get off. **

**Oops.** Remus moved slightly to one side. **Better?**

**Yes. Much. Thank you.**

* * *

The Lupins continued to rent from the Blacks, moving up from one bedroom to the entire side of the house that Sirius and Aletha didn't use, and the two couples fell into an easy camaraderie. Danger was home all day, so she kept the house in order, besides cooking for everyone. James and Lily were frequent visitors, as were Peter and Evanie, now both living in Peter's flat. One day, Evanie came alone, obviously with something on her mind. 

"He's not happy," she said over tea. "I can tell. He does the work at the shop because it pays, but he's not happy there. I wish I knew what kind of work would make him happy – Dad wants the shop to stay in the family, but he wouldn't want me to be miserable, and if Peter is, I will be."

"There might be a way to find out. Pardon me a moment?"

"Of course."

Danger shut her eyes. **Are you busy?**

**Nothing that can't wait. What's going on?**

She explained the situation, and asked if Remus had any insights.

**Let me think about it a while, all right? I'll ask James and Sirius – **

**Don't tell them what this is about. Just make it a funny conversation, like you've forgotten about Peter and what he likes. **

**Don't worry, I'll be careful.** **We can talk about it tonight. **

That night, after dinner, the Lupins said good night and went across to their own side of the house, which was furnished in a style that reflected their double nature. There were chairs and tables, but the tables were all low to the ground and the chairs large enough for a wolf to curl up in. Most of them could hold two. One of them soon was, as the newlyweds cuddled and shamelessly gossiped about their friends.

**Peter likes animals,** said Remus. **He always has. He can be a little nervous around predators, since his Animagus form is a prey animal, but he likes them anyway. And we know Evanie does. What if they got into some kind of breeding program, like Arabella Figg runs? **

**Or – maybe not that, but something related.** Danger had just had a brainstorm. **Like Letha's mum does – rehabilitation. There have to be hurt and abused magical creatures out there. Why couldn't Peter and Evanie work with them? **

**Not a bad idea. Level Four at the Ministry, first thing tomorrow.**

But Level Four wasn't the first place Remus went the next day. Instead, he headed for Level Two and Arthur Weasley's tiny, crowded office.

_Arthur knows everyone, and everyone knows him. He'll be able to tell me who to talk to._

Sure enough, Arthur could provide him with names, but more than that, the idea caught his interest. He helped Remus send the request through official channels, but unofficial channels worked much faster, and Arthur Weasley had a lot of unofficial channels to use.

The upshot was that, within a few weeks of Evanie and Danger's conversation, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures decided to open a new office in the Beast Division, cooperating with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The PAC-men (Prevention of Animal Cruelty) were a few of the older Aurors who couldn't do the really hard jobs anymore but didn't want to retire just yet, and they took to making surprise inspections of breeding facilities and responding to calls about possible abuse.

Of course, they had to have a place where the abused animals they collected could go. It had to be somewhere that Muggles couldn't find, somewhere with enough space for the larger animals to roam, and it had to be staffed by people who cared about the animals. It was perhaps inevitable that someone should think of Hogwarts. Albus Dumbledore thought it was quite a good idea, and signed the order allowing the Ministry to use a portion of the Hogwarts grounds as an animal rehabilitation center, on one condition.

"Me?" said Peter in astonishment when he found out what that condition had been. "They want me to head it up?"

"Dumbledore wants you to head it up," James corrected. "You and Evanie both. He knows you, he knows you'll take good care of the animals and not give him any hassles."

"But what about the bookshop?" Peter looked torn, wanting this immensely but not wanting to skip out on his current responsibilities. "Mr. Mead needs help, he can't run the place on his own..."

"I could use a job," said Danger thoughtfully. "And I've always thought it would be nice to work in a bookstore."

And so the Regulus Black Memorial Animal Rehabilitation Center was built at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, with Peter and Evanie Pettigrew to staff it, and Rubeus Hagrid and the Hogwarts Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Felix Kettleburn, as their consultants. Another house was built on the outskirts of the Forest near Hagrid's, a bit larger but not much, and the buildings for housing the animals nearby, all of them connected, and the closest one connected to the house.

"So we don't have to go outdoors in the winter," said Evanie. "It gets cold around here."

Sirius' parents, to his shock, attended the dedication ceremony in September, and his mother actually said hello to Aletha, although she did so in a very frosty tone, and did not offer to shake hands. His father waited until his mother wasn't looking, then pressed Aletha's hand quickly, smiled at her slightly, and hurried away without saying anything.

Aletha looked after him, down at her hand, then at Sirius, and the two of them burst out laughing.

* * *

14 November was a Wednesday. Aletha knew she had to get up and go to work, but she didn't want to. The bed was so soft, and so comfortable... but she could smell whatever Danger was baking in the kitchen below, and she wanted some... 

No, she didn't, her stomach suddenly informed her. In fact, that was the last thing she wanted.

She leapt out of bed and ran for the bathroom, making it just in time.

Sirius came in while she was worshiping the porcelain god and knelt down beside her, steadying her head. "You all right?" he said when she was done, filling a glass of water from the sink with his wand so that he didn't have to stop holding her. "Pick up a bug or something?"

Aletha rinsed her mouth and spat. "No, I don't think so. At least, I hope not."

"This has been going on for a little while now. What's this, the third time this week?" Sirius' eyes were grave. "Please don't make that old thing come true, about how Healers never go to see a Healer themselves. Talk to someone today while you're working, or check yourself over. Please."

Two "pleases" from her usually mannerless husband deserved consideration, Aletha thought. "All right. I will."

She promptly forgot about it until lunchtime, when she ran into Lily in the hospital tearoom, looking with some distaste at the selections on the counter. "Not hungry?" she asked.

"Not really. I've been a little ill lately – nothing terribly serious, I don't think, but just not wanting to eat anything."

"That's funny, me too. I've been sick in the mornings a lot..."

Lily looked at her friend, a smile playing around her lips. "Sick in the mornings, are you?"

Aletha stared at Lily. "Oh, no. No. Not that. It can't be."

"Come on, let's find out." Lily towed her out of the tearoom and down several flights of stairs, stopping on the landing between the first and second floors when she saw a familiar face. "Danger!"

"Oh, hello," said Danger, smiling at them a bit wanly. "I was just looking for you, Lily, but they told me you were on lunch break. I need to ask you something."

"I'll be with you in a minute, I'm just tending to Letha. She's been..." Lily winked. "...sick in the mornings."

Danger grinned. "Well, we know what causes that, now."

"Stop it!" Aletha felt her face heating up, and was grateful that her complexion made it nearly impossible for her to blush visibly. "All right, I'll take the damn test. But only if you two take it too. All right?"

"All right," answered the other women in chorus.

They found an empty treatment room, and Lily shut the door.

* * *

Remus arrived home from work that night with Sirius, both of them tired. Sirius, along with James, had spent the day following up leads on the few remaining Death Eaters who hadn't been captured at the Great Battle – there weren't many, but the Ministry wanted them all rounded up. The leads were generally old, difficult to verify or follow, and usually bum anyway. It was frustrating work. 

Remus had troubles of his own, and those troubles could be spelled with five letters – S-N-A-P-E.

_We can't help that we both work in the department. We're doing completely different projects, we never actually have to see each other – if he dislikes me so much, why doesn't he just stay out of my way?_

He sighed. _Oh well. If he gets his kicks by being a snarky bastard, that's fine. _

_I just wish he didn't feel obligated to do it to me..._

"See you at dinner," said Sirius.

"See you." Remus opened his own front door. **I'm home,** he called.

**Good. I'm in the back room. **

Remus frowned. Danger's mental tone sounded... odd. He put down his bag and took off his hat and cloak, hanging them on the coat tree, and hurried back through the front room and the hallway to the room where their Floo hookup was.

He stopped on the threshold. Except for the light of the fire, the room was dark. Danger was sitting in front of the fireplace, cross-legged at a low table, with several dishes of food set out on it. "What's this?" he asked.

"Oh, I thought we could have a quiet, romantic dinner for a change. I know Letha has something she wants to talk to Sirius about over dinner, and we wouldn't be welcome." Her smile flickered into view like the flames. "Besides, it'll be nice. Just the three of us."

"Yes, that will be..." Remus' thought came to a screeching halt. "Three?"

Danger stood up and walked to him, stopping only a few inches from him. She took his hand in hers and pressed it against his chest. "One." She held it against her own chest. "Two." She slid it down between her breasts to the soft curve of her belly and held it there, smiling up at him. "Three."

Her meaning was as clear as it was unbelievable.

"You can't be... you're not..."

"You're not a werewolf any more," she reminded him. "And we are married. So I can be, and I am."

"When?"

"July."

"July." The room wasn't big enough – the world wasn't big enough – to contain all of Remus' joy. He scooped Danger off her feet, making her squeal, and spun her around, laughing. "July!"

"Yes, we certainly got right to it, didn't we?"

All Remus' tiredness had vanished in a rush of pride and love. _Everything I thought I'd never have – and she's given me all of it... _

_I'm going to be a father! _

"Do you know which it is yet?"

"No, I think I'd rather be surprised. Unless you want to know."

"No, not at all. I can wait." Remus stroked Danger's stomach tenderly. "Either's fine with me."

"Oh, good. But now the big question."

"What?"

"Who should we tell, and when?"

"Who already knows?"

"Letha and Lily."

"All right, they're trustworthy. I want my parents to know, of course, as soon as possible. And yours."

"Yes... but maybe we should hold off telling mine." Danger looked suddenly grave. "You may not know, but my mum's had a couple of miscarriages. I think we should wait until I'm a little farther along before we tell them."

Remus nodded, pulling his wife into a tight embrace. "If you say so." He kept his tone light, but the news had shaken him more than he wanted to admit. He couldn't believe how precious this little life had become to him in the few moments he had known about it.

"Don't worry, love, I doubt it's hereditary. She had a difficult time with me, that's probably all it is."

"All right."

"Since Lily and Letha know, James and Sirius will know in short order, and we should tell Peter and Evanie soon, if we're going to name them godparents." Danger grinned. "We may have to fight for that honor, though, unless they're willing to have more than one godchild."

"More than..." Remus' eyes widened. "Please tell me it isn't twins."

"Not that I'm aware of," said Danger hastily. "No, not that."

"Oh." Remus felt stupid. "All right, which of them is it? Letha, or Lily?"

Danger looked innocent. "Jumping to conclusions, aren't you? It isn't either of them."

Remus nodded knowingly. "I'm sure. It isn't either of them – because it's both, isn't it?"

Danger snapped her fingers. "Nuts, you figured it out."

* * *

"James what?" said Danger, laughing. 

"Fainted." Lily was grinning widely. "My unshakeable third year Auror apprentice husband, who's faced down Death Eaters without flinching, fainted when I told him I was pregnant."

"Sirius sat there for a moment with his mouth hanging open," contributed Aletha. "And then he said, 'How did this happen?'"

"You do realize, we ought to be very sorry for Dumbledore," said Lily. "If he stays Headmaster for twelve more years, he's going to have all three of our children at once."

"A Potter, a Black, and a Lupin – the Marauders all over again!" Aletha laughed.

Danger shook her head. "The school won't know what hit it."

* * *

Peter and Evanie were delighted to hear the news, and cheerfully agreed to be godparents to all three children. "We'll spoil them for you," said Peter. "Be the fun auntie and uncle who have all the pretty animals and let them do anything they want." 

"Thanks a lot," said Danger, throwing a piece of bread at him.

The elder Lupins were stunned when Remus told them the news later that month. Like Remus himself, they hadn't thought through the consequences of his being freed from the lycanthropy. Certainly they hadn't thought of this one.

"A grandchild will be lovely," said Katherine when she could speak again. "You were the most beautiful baby, Remus. I'm sure your child will be as wonderful."

"Every baby is beautiful," said John. "Congratulations, cub."

"Thanks, Dad." Remus knew, in his heart, how much his father had wanted their family line to continue. The Lupins were as old a family as the Blacks or the Potters, but they had never bothered with the pureblood nonsense – obviously, since his own mother was a Muggle. Still, the name Lupin went far back in British magical history, and Remus could tell how happy his father was that there would be another generation.

The Grangers, too, were delighted, when Danger finally told them the news at Christmas, and understood perfectly why she'd kept it from them. "How did you find out?" asked Rose, who loved to learn about the magical world.

"There's a spell. Do you want to see?"

"Of course."

Danger pulled out her wand. "_Revelare Ventris,_" she said. A fine gold mist sprayed from the end of it and hung in the air.

"What do you do with it?"

"Blow on it."

Rose did.

Danger stared, wide-eyed, at the globe of blue mist.

"What's wrong, dear?"

* * *

**So now my _mum_ is pregnant,** said Danger at the New Year's party. **She's due in mid-September sometime.**

"And there's more trouble on the way as well," said Lily. "You wouldn't believe who was in to see me yesterday."

"No, who?" asked Evanie.

"Molly Weasley."

**What, again? Fred and George are only about a year and a half old, aren't they? **

"Yes – but that's not the worst of it."

"What is?" asked Aletha.

"She's having twins again."

"Oh, geez." Evanie groaned. "Two sets of twins in a row… poor woman."

**I know she loves children, but this might be a little much even for her, don't you think?**

"Maybe there's something in the water," said Aletha. "Anita Lovegood is pregnant too."

"And Alice Longbottom," added Lily. "James was saying how he and Sirius might take some of their tests early, to help pick up the slack when she and Frank go on parental leave. I pointed out to him that it probably wouldn't help."

"Since they'll be on parental leave as well." Aletha laughed. "Lars Vilias must be tearing his hair out trying to figure out how he's going to cover everything this summer."

"Is it going to interfere with your training, Letha?" asked Evanie. "Having the baby?"

"No, I don't think so. There are some potions I can't deal with while I'm pregnant or nursing, but I can still learn the wanded techniques, and observe diagnosis and such. And there's always paperwork."

**Yes,** said Danger wearily. **There is _always_ paperwork. **

* * *

Danger's prenatal exams revealed that the baby changed just as she and Remus did, becoming a wolf cub at sunset, and human again at sunrise. "He's going to be fun to deal with," she said at her four-month checkup. "Might have some trouble learning to walk human-style, since she'll only be able to practice half the time." 

"Oh, he'll manage. Or she." Lily frowned. "That is really annoying. But I suppose since we don't want to know, that's the price we have to pay." She and James, like Remus and Danger, had decided they didn't want to know the sex of their child. Sirius and Aletha had opted to find out, and had discovered they were expecting a baby girl.

Peter and Evanie were a little envious of their friends, perhaps, but they had "children" of their own to deal with, and more coming in every day. Crups whose tail dockings had gotten infected, kneazles whose sense of humor had gotten out of control, a pair of Fwoopers whose owner had decided that their song couldn't really be all that bad (he was currently in the Janus Thickey ward at St. Mungo's), and, memorably, a gray hippogriff, which had been found neglected in a basement.

The hippogriff was savage to begin with, mantling and threatening Peter, but he was slightly mollified by Peter's very correct bow, and much more so by the bucket of meat Peter had with him. By the end of the week, Evanie had named the creature Buckbeak, and she and Peter were able to groom his horse half with a currycomb, while he preened his feathers himself. He was eating two or three meals a day, and allowing even some of Professor Kettleburn's more advanced Care of Magical Creatures students to approach him, once they had bowed to him first.

Hagrid met Buckbeak a few days later, and the two took to each other tremendously. By the time the snow was melting on Hogwarts grounds, Buckbeak was allowing Hagrid to handle him with a collar and leash, though Peter and Evanie were the only people he'd allow to ride him. When true spring came, they turned him loose, to live in the Forest with the other hippogriffs there, and Buckbeak seemed to enjoy himself tremendously.

But he'd still come if any of the three called him.

* * *

Near the end of April, Severus Snape's experiments of the past two years finally yielded fruit. 

"I have run all the standard safety tests on it, Lupin," he said in his condescending way. "Including sampling it myself. It did not kill me, or the animal I tested it on, therefore it should not kill you."

Remus would have been more offended if he hadn't known Snape so well. This was his way of saying "I've done everything in my power to make sure this won't hurt you."

"However, there is only one true test of its efficacy. And that is to have one of you drink it. And since your wife," the word seemed to have a slightly bitter taste to Snape, "has made herself ineligible for testing potions for some time to come, the only test subject is yourself. If you would be so kind."

"What, exactly, will it do?"

"Whatever form you are in when you drink this, you will retain that form for a full twenty-four hours. At the end of that time, your usual cycle will recommence."

"So if I drink it now, I'll stay human until this time tomorrow."

"Yes."

"All right, then." Remus picked up the goblet sitting on his desk.

"Enjoy yourself," said Snape. "I would appreciate a log of your reactions, including any adverse ones." He stalked away.

Remus downed the potion in two long swallows, forcing himself not to gag on the bitter taste. _I'll have to ask around and see if there's some way to make it taste better. But I shouldn't complain…this could make life so much easier…_

He felt warmth move through all his veins, then settle, and pulled out parchment and quill to note it down. **Was that sunset?**

**Yes, it was. Is it working?**

**Yes, it is. **

**Good. We can check with Andy and Letha to see how soon the baby can use it. **

The only unpleasant effects Remus had to report the next day were a few twinges of pain in his joints, similar to those he had once experienced on full moons, and some minor skin irritation.

"Very well." Snape jotted that down in his notes. "I would advise you not to use this more than twice a month. Some of the ingredients may build up in your system, and it will take that long for them to be flushed out. They will not actively poison you, but their long-term effects are unknown."

"We'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Severus."

**Aww,** complained Danger half-heartedly.

**Don't start,** said Remus. **We couldn't do this before, so twice a month is an improvement. And think about it logically – where are we going to go at night anyway?**

**Good point. We'd probably only use it for a party or some other special occasion. **

**Maybe when your little sister is born. **The Grangers had decided that they wanted to know their baby's sex, and had already picked out a name – Hermione Jane.

**Yeah, what is it with my parents and Shakespearean queens, anyway?**

**At least Hermione got a happy ending. Even if she did have to pretend to be dead for sixteen years. Gertrude married her husband's brother and died with poison meant for her son…**

**_Now_ do you see why I don't like the name?**

* * *

James and Lily were having a leisurely Sunday lunch at home when an owl flew through their window. James took the letter from the owl and scanned it. His eyebrows went up. "It's from Padfoot. Letha's gone into labor." 

"Then I'd better get going, hadn't I?" Lily accepted James' hand to help her up. "And you should come along too. Moral support for poor old Sirius."

Aletha's labor went well, and it was 4:13 PM on 1 June, 1980, when Meghan Lily Black made her entrance into the world, and immediately informed everyone involved that she didn't like it one little bit.

Lily placed the pink-wrapped bundle in Sirius' arms. "Support her head," she warned. "Her neck's still too weak to hold it up by herself."

Sirius stared down at the tiny, wrinkled face, the dark hair sneaking out from under the hospital cap, one tiny hand clutching the blanket, two large eyes tightly shut – and then they opened, and looked at him...

"I thought babies had blue eyes," he said, cradling the girl carefully.

"They do," said Lily. "Most of them."

"Not her." Sirius turned so that Aletha could see. "Hers are grey."

"Hmm, I wonder where she could have gotten grey eyes?" Aletha laughed. "Let me hold her now?"

"But I wasn't done yet."

"And another one bites the dust," said James, throwing up his hands. "He's lost."

"You'll be just as bad in a month or so," warned Lily. "Or at least you had better be."

* * *

Thursday afternoon, Danger was minding the cash register at the Meads' bookstore when she felt a tremor running through her. That was no big surprise – she'd felt such tremors often in the past month – but what happened next was. 

_There is something running down my leg. Something wet. _

_Oh my God…_

"Larry?" She stuck her head in the back room. "I have to go. Will you be all right here?"

"What's happening?" asked Mr. Mead, looking up from his accounts.

Danger smiled tremulously, running her hand across her belly. "It's time."

"Congratulations," said Mr. Mead with an answering smile, getting up. "Do you need help getting to the hospital?"

"Oh, I'm not going to the hospital. They're not really set up for someone like me. I'm going to give birth at home."

"Do you need help getting home, then?"

"No, I think I can still Floo. Thanks, though."

"You bring that baby in as soon as you can," said Mrs. Mead, popping her head in. "Or better yet, you let us know, and we'll come and see you."

"Thanks, Patty, I will."

Mr. Mead insisted on helping her to the fireplace, and she caught herself on the handholds Remus had installed on their mantelpiece gratefully a few moments later – her stomach had just tightened again, and she wasn't sure she could have kept her balance without them. Once the contraction had passed, she made her way ponderously over to an end table, where lay a small, tarnished, gilt-edged mirror.

"Lily Potter," she said clearly into it, and waited.

"Danger?" Lily's face appeared in the mirror. "What's going on?"

Danger laughed a bit shakily. "I'm having a baby."

"All right, I'll be over as soon as I can clear my schedule. Get yourself comfortable and don't try to do too much. Have you told Remus?"

"No, he's busy with something and I don't want to break his concentration."

"Don't wait too long. Men get touchy about not being told these things."

"I won't. See you when you get here."

"See you." Lily broke the connection.

Danger cleaned herself up as best she could while waiting, and Summoned a clean nightgown, which she changed into, thankful that all the carpets in their home had been chosen with an eye, or rather a hand, to how they felt against sensitive skin. Around the time she finished fastening the buttons in the front of the gown, she felt Remus' mental touch go from "concentrating" mode to "relaxed".

**Knock knock**, she called.

**Who's there?**

**Baby.**

**Baby who?**

**Baby coming. **

**Well, of course… what, you mean now?**

**No, next year. Yes, I mean now!**

Remus' first response was not verbal, consisting of astonishment mixed with quite a bit of fear, a large helping of worry, and just a touch of annoyance. **You're early. **

**I know. **

**And it would have to be the one night the boss wants me to work late. There're some experiments they've been hoping to run on my wolf form, and the one potion will spoil by tomorrow night, so it has to be tonight. **

**How late is late? **

**I don't know. They've arranged for everyone to stay at least until midnight, though…**

Danger sighed. **I'll survive. Just come as soon as you can. **

**All right. I love you. And the baby. Be careful. **

**I will.**

Lily's arrival coincided with a rather longer contraction than Danger had experienced up to now, and all other thoughts went out the window as she concentrated on having this baby.

"What are you going to do at sunset?" she asked at nine o'clock, looking out the window at the red-lit sky.

"Keep helping you, of course. Don't you know why I've been at Peter and Evanie's so much lately? They had two crups give birth there recently, I was observing."

"Well, woof woof." Danger chuckled, then gasped as her stomach took objection.

It was just luck that the moment of sunset did not coincide with a contraction, Danger thought, but it was luck she was very grateful for. She had no idea what her muscles might make of their changing forms if they had to work at the same time.

The labor hurt less in wolf form, she discovered. **Too bad you can't do this,** she told Lily. **This cub's going to be born any minute now, I think… but of course you're the expert. **

"No, you're right. Remember to breathe with them, here comes another one… ready? Push!"

* * *

He didn't understand what was happening, and he didn't like it. 

There had always been changes, but they were never like this. He didn't _like_ it. It was…

* * *

**Bad.**

**Oh my God!**

"What?"

**I heard something – hold on…**

Danger reached out to the source of the voice she had heard, and somehow wasn't surprised to find it within herself. **Hello,** she said gently.

**Mm? **was the response, a non-verbal sort of query – and now that she thought about it, the "Bad" she'd heard before hadn't been verbal either, that was just her mind's closest translation of it. The querying feeling was utterly general, the questioner had no understanding of – of anything, really.

_My child. I'm talking to my child. _

**Hello,** she said again. **It's all right. I know this isn't very nice, but it will be over soon. **

**Mm? **The mind had no conception of "soon", no understanding of time at all. Things were one way, or they were another. **Bad.**

**Yes. Bad. But good soon.** Danger projected soothing feelings, trying to impart some confidence into the tiny life struggling along with her.

"Danger, what are you doing?"

She looked up at her midwife. **Lily, I can hear him! I can hear my baby!**

Lily blinked in surprise. "Well, I suppose that's good. Is he all right? In distress?"

**He doesn't like it. But we wouldn't either, if we were being taken out of a warm comfortable place like that. **

"True. All right, just keep pushing. I think we're close now…"

* * *

Suddenly there was a lot of change. There was not something which there had been before… 

**Room. There isn't room. You're pressed, squeezed. But it will be over soon. **

He didn't understand the last part, but he liked the feeling that went with it. The feeling of comfort, of safety.

And then there was a lot of that thing which there hadn't been any of, and a lot of other things too. And he didn't like most of them.

**Bad!**

**Cold. You're cold because you're wet. But you'll be all right in a moment. **

Something touched him – picked him up from the ground –

**Bad!** he cried in panic. **Bad! BAD!**

* * *

The little male wolf stiffened and whined in Lily's hands. 

**Lily, put him down! Quickly! You're terrifying him! **

Lily instantly set the tiny cub on the floor next to Danger. "Good heavens, I didn't mean to," she said, looking shaken. "What set him off?"

Danger curled herself around the cub, who was huddled into a ball, shivering, and began to lick him. **I'm not sure,** she said in between murmuring comforting words. **I think, maybe, that only a predator could pick him up like that in the wild. So his instincts tell him to be afraid of that. He is a boy, by the way?**

"Oh, most definitely. Congratulations."

**Thank you. There, it's all right now.** The last one was directed to the cub, who was starting to uncurl. **It's all right, isn't it?**

* * *

The fear was passing. Something pleasant was next to him, and something pleasant but different had been stroking him. And now something even a little different was rubbing over him. 

**A towel. You're being dried off, now that you're clean. **

He poked his nose against the pleasant thing next to him. **Mm? **he asked the voice. It was a very general kind of question – "What is this?"

**Me. **The second thing rubbed across him again. **This is me. Your Mama.**

**Mama.** He liked that, and the feelings that went with it. Warm comfort, and safety, and something else.

**Love,** the voice supplied before he could even ask. **I love you. **

He liked love. But there was something else happening inside him…

**Bad. Mm?**

**You're hungry. But that can be fixed. **The thing next to him – Mama – shifted, and then there was something new next to his face. Something he knew what to do with.

And he liked – oh, he very much liked – the taste that filled up his mouth when he did.

**Good. Good. Gooood.**

**I'm glad you like it.** The voice was filled with the thing called love. And that was good too.

* * *

Remus Apparated into his own kitchen. **Hello? **he called, pitching his "voice" to carry through the house, since his touch had told him Danger was asleep. 

"In the back room," answered Lily quietly, but his wolf's ears picked it up.

He trotted eagerly into the hall, picking up a new scent. New, yet familiar…

"It's a boy," said Lily as he came through the door. She was smiling broadly. "Born just after ten-thirty. Have a look."

Remus hurried over and felt his heart racing. Danger was curled up around a tiny, dark ball of fur. He looked anxiously at Lily. **Are they all right? This was early, wasn't it?**

"Supposedly, yes – she wasn't due until late July – but that's probably due to your changes, like everything else. Wolf gestation is only about three months, it's not surprising that he's a little early. He's certainly not showing any trouble breathing or nursing. All in all, Remus Lupin, I'd say you have a fine healthy son."

Remus felt a weight lift from his heart as he looked back at his wife and son. **What color is he?**

"Mostly grey, but he has russet highlights. Very handsome. Like a fox."

Remus nuzzled his baby, sniffing the soft fur and memorizing the scent. **He's so beautiful. **

**I'm glad you approve,** said another voice, sounding tired but pleased.

**How could I not? He's gorgeous.** Remus lay down beside mother and baby, scooting himself closer to them until his flank was pressed against the curl of the cub's back and his back legs twined with Danger's. **So. A boy. Have you thought about names at all?**

**Not really. But… Lily, he really looks like a fox?**

"A little. To tell you the truth, he looks like almost nothing I've ever seen. But I suppose that'll pass."

**I'm sure it will.** Remus sighed in contentment. **Why did you ask, Danger?**

**Because it gave me an idea. Why don't we call him Reynard?**

**Reynard, the trickster fox. Reynard Lupin.** Remus considered for a moment. **I like it. **

"That's very nice," said Lily. "Call him Ray for short."

**Reynard Alexander Lupin,** said Danger.

**Why Alexander?**

**Oh, just because.**

**All right. If you say so.**

**Mm? **asked a tiny voice.

**What's that?**

**That's our son, Remus. He wants to know who you are. Talk to him.**

"I think this is my cue to leave," said Lily, laughing a little. "Will you two be all right without me?"

**We should be,** said Remus. **You're sure he's healthy, then?**

"Perfectly. I'll check in on you in the morning. Sleep well."

**Oh, we will. **

**Mm? **repeated the tiny voice, this time with a bit more force, as Lily began to pack up her things.

Remus twisted to look at the tiny ball of fur, which was uncurling, revealing folded-over ears, tightly closed eyes, and a pug nose, but that would change as he grew. **Hello, son,** he said, giving Reynard a soft lick. **I'm your Daddy. **

**Daddy?**

**Yes. Daddy.** Remus gave his son feelings, images, of everything a daddy did. How he held his cub safe and protected him from the mean parts of the world – how he taught his cub to be a strong, brave wolf and fight fiercely – how he played with his cub, fun games like jump-on-the-tail and wrestling...

**Good,** Reynard decided.

Remus looked over at Danger. **I feel like I just passed my N.E.W.T.s with all O's.**

**I know. Look at him, Remus, just look at him! He's beautiful – and he's ours! We created him! **

**You're starting to scare me. **

**I'm petrified myself. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing...**

**Bad?** inquired a small voice.

**And now we're scaring him. No, little one, not bad. Good. Everything is good. **

**Yes, everything is good,** repeated Remus, licking Reynard's fur one more time. **Now we're going to sleep. **

**Sleep?**

Danger nuzzled Reynard. **Sleep.** In her mind were feelings of peace and tranquility, of quiet and rest, and Reynard responded, yawning largely, then laying his head down on his paws. His mind's touch went from awake to asleep in that instantaneous way that only babies seemed capable of.

**And if we don't want to wake him, we'd better do the same. **

**I don't know about you, but I just went through six hours of hard labor – pun fully intended – and I'm exhausted. **

**Well, then, don't let me keep you up.** Remus rearranged his position very slightly, laid his head on the carpet, and sighed. **Good night. **

**Good night. **

_I have a son. I have a child. Someone totally dependent on me. _

It was not a sleep-inducing idea. In fact, it seemed more likely to induce absolute terror. But he couldn't go around broadcasting that – not with Reynard able to pick up on his emotions...

_I wonder... if he can pick up mine, can I pick up his?_

Sure enough, his son's mind was open to him, utterly secure and peaceful, needing nothing. Remus wrapped himself in that feeling, banishing his fears for the moment. He would deal with them later.

Sleep came surprisingly quickly after that.

* * *

Danger awoke early the next morning, but not before the sun. Remus lay beside her in his work robes, and between them – 

**Remus, wake up! Look at him! **

Reynard Alexander Lupin, in the light of the sun, was a completely gorgeous baby. His skin was soft and smooth, his eyes shut tightly, and his hair, of which he had a great deal, was brown and as crinkly as Danger's own, though he did indeed have the russet highlights Lily had noticed in his fur.

**I bet he has blue eyes,** said Remus without bothering to open his own.

**All babies have blue eyes. **

**Yes, but I bet he keeps them. **

**I won't take it. Would you mind doing something for me?**

**What?**

**Get me a nappy? It wasn't really feasible to put one on him last night, and I know we can clean the carpets, but I'd rather not have to. **

**Right away, my love.** Remus sat up, stretched his back, and drew his wand without looking at it, since his eyes were fixed on Reynard. **God, he is so beautiful.**

Danger took Reynard's ankles in her hand and lifted his rear end up to put the nappy under it. **No arguments here.**

Reynard stirred just as Danger finished fastening the nappy. **Mm? **he inquired.

**Morning,** said Danger. **Sunlight – oh, no, I just thought of something. **

**What?**

**His eyes were shut last night. And his ears. He's going to be startled by seeing and hearing – and confused when he can't tonight...**

**We'll help him through it. Like right now. Talk to him, get him used to your voice. **

Danger was about to say something, when Reynard discovered hearing for himself. **Hungry,** he complained mentally, and began to fuss.

It wasn't a very loud noise, nor a very jarring one, though Danger knew it could quickly become one, but it startled Reynard considerably. **Ah! **was his expressed feeling. His eyes flew open, and both his parents felt his second shock as he realized a second new ability. **Mm? **he demanded.

**You see. You hear. **Danger slid her arms under the baby. **You see me. You see Mama. **

**Bad,** Reynard protested as she lifted him up, then stopped, blinking at her. **Good?** he asked doubtfully.

**He was afraid last night when Lily picked him up,** Danger told Remus. **But now that he's human, his instincts want him to be picked up. So he's confused. Yes, Reynard. Good. **She held him close to her. **Get my buttons, please?**

**Certainly.** Remus leaned over her and began to undo her front buttons.

Reynard blinked as a new face invaded his vision. **Mm?**

**This boy's going to be a terror when he gets to the "Why" stage. Hello, Reynard. You see Daddy. **

**Daddy. **A tiny hand reached up to investigate Remus' face, latching onto his lower lip and pulling.

**Ouch,** Remus complained, laughing mentally as he peeled the fingers off him. **There, love, you're all ready. **

Danger rearranged her now open nightgown and Reynard, stroking his cheek to make him turn his head, and filling his mouth with her nipple just in time to cut off his second **Hungry **and replace it with a contented **Gooood.**

After a few moments, Danger began to hum, so quietly that it didn't startle Reynard. Remus recognized the tune and joined in, adding a harmony line after the first chorus was over. By the time they hit the second chorus, they were singing the words, still quietly, but certainly loud enough for Reynard to hear. They finished the song in unison and sighed together, making Danger laugh, which did startle Reynard a bit, but luckily he pulled away instead of biting.

A knocking on the wall startled all three of them. "I'll get it," said Remus, standing up and going to the wall which divided the two halves of the house. To the uninitiated, the wall looked unbroken, but friends of the two families knew that a cleverly disguised door had been installed, so that the Lupins and the Blacks could visit whenever they wanted. Remus opened that door now. "Yes, what do you want?" he asked mock-rudely.

"A little flower told us there's been an arrival at your place," answered Sirius' voice. Danger was glad she hadn't tried to get Reynard to nurse again, since all the new things were surprising him enough that he surely would have bitten her by now. "May we come over and say hello?"

"Oh, if you must," said Remus. "Just wait a second, please?" He turned and pointed his wand at Danger. "_Wingardium Leviosa._"

Danger felt herself lifted into the air and floated across the room, to be deposited on the couch. **Thank you,** she said. **Less chance of accidental exposure from here. **

**That is what I was thinking. **"Come in, come in, one and all," said Remus, opening the door wide and gesturing to Danger like a barker at a carnival. "Come in and see the eighth wonder of the world."

Sirius, framed in the doorway, nodded. "I know the feeling. So, Danger, what's the damage? Boy or girl?"

"He's a boy. Reynard Alexander. Come on in and let him see you – he's a little surprised by all this, since he couldn't see or hear when he was born."

"He couldn't? Why – oh, right." Sirius was across the room by now, leaning over Danger and Reynard. "Well, hello there, handsome. Are you going to try and charm my little Meghan out of her shoes when you grow up?"

**Bad?** asked Reynard, looking warily at Sirius.

**Good,** said Danger firmly. She grinned at Sirius. "He wants to know if you're good or bad."

"He wants to know?"

"We can hear him," said Remus from the door, where he was now holding Meghan. "The way we can each other. But I'm pretty sure we'll be able to find a way to shut him out of private conversations if we need to."

"You hope so, you mean," said Aletha, laughing as she crossed the room. "Oh, isn't he precious. Can I hold him, or will that scare him?"

"He has to get used to it sometime."

**Bad!** Reynard wailed, both mentally and aloud, as Danger transferred him to Aletha's arms.

**Good,** said Danger and Remus together, overriding Reynard's fear. **Good.**

**Good?** Reynard stared up at Aletha, then, with a tangible decision, accepted his parents' verdict. **Good. **

"I'll trade you," said Remus, joining the group by the sofa. "Since I haven't held him yet myself."

"Here, I'll take her," said Sirius, holding out his arms for his daughter. "But I want a chance at him next."

"Fair enough." Remus sat down on the other end of the couch, cradling Reynard against him. "Hello, son," he said, smiling down at the baby face and the very blue eyes contained therein.

**Daddy.** Reynard yawned. **Good.**

The look on Remus' face, Danger thought, could easily have been photographed and put in a dictionary next to the word "infatuation".

"Reynard just said he likes Remus," she told Sirius and Aletha quietly. "That's why he looks like an idiot."

"At least he's a happy idiot." Sirius looked down at Meghan. "Merlin's beard, think of us having kids. It just makes me feel so... so..."

"Old?" suggested both women.

* * *

Lily's next case came on Saturday week, when Anita Lovegood went into labor unexpectedly after breakfast and her husband Gerald rushed her to the hospital. Luna Marie Lovegood was born just after noon, and spent most of her time regarding everyone and everything quietly with lovely silver-grey eyes. 

"That's two grey-eyed babies in two weeks," said Lily afterwards. "Two grey-eyed girls. Getting to be an epidemic."

There was a lull for a bit over a month, in which time the new parents adjusted to life with tiny creatures which cried in the middle of the night and the middle of meals. Or rather the Blacks and the Lovegoods did. Reynard hardly ever cried aloud.

"He knows he doesn't need to," said Danger. "He can just tell us what's wrong, and we come and fix it."

"Must be nice," said Sirius, yawning. "Meghan keeps us up half the night, and we can't figure out what's wrong with her."

Reynard's wolf form continued to develop, with his eyes opening around the time he was two weeks old and his ears about two weeks after that. By the time he was three weeks old, he was pouncing on Remus' tail at night, and highly insulted that he couldn't do anything equivalent in human form. His adult coat, which resembled his human hair closely, started to show up around his nose and eyes, and he sprouted teeth, which vanished at sunrise along with everything else lupine about him.

"And a more confused little boy you never saw," said Remus. "But he trusts us that it's not harmful, and he's getting to like both forms."

"Well, I've examined that potion of Snape's, and I'd say any time after six months ought to be safe to give it to him," said Aletha. "Earlier might even be all right, but not unless you have to, just to be safe."

Molly Weasley was the next to go into labor, waking up to a saturated bed on 26 July. Arthur drove her to the hospital, since he didn't want to risk her going through the Floo in her condition, and vanished as soon as he'd checked her in, reappearing two or three hours later to be sworn at.

"At least I don't have to wonder," he said in the waiting room at 1:25. "We'll have another pair of red-haired boys, I'm sure. Boys in my family all the way back – there hasn't been a Weasley girl for nearly two hundred years..."

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, Arthur," said Aletha, coming through the waiting room door.

"What?" Arthur was on his feet.

"Oh, dear, did I say that?" Aletha clapped her hands melodramatically over her mouth. "Well, why don't you go see for yourself..."

Arthur was out the door almost before she had spoken.

"A boy and a girl?" he said in amazement, looking at the bundles beside Molly in the bed. "But – but–"

"Yes, Arthur, I know," said Molly, smiling. "But I, for one, think it's quite time we had a girl in this family."

"Well, if you say so, dear." Arthur sat down on the edge of the bed and held out his arms. "Let's see her."

Molly watched her husband's face, and saw what she had seen five times before, and would see again in a moment when he held their newest son. Arthur was in love again.

"She's the younger," she said quietly. "Our son was born first."

"How rude of him," said Arthur, rocking the little girl in his arms. "He'll have to learn some better manners than that."

Molly shook her head indulgently. Her little girl would be spoiled rotten, she foresaw, but also teased to death, and that would be her salvation.

Ronald Bilius and Ginevra Molly were the darlings of the little group of friends for five days, until Frank and Alice Longbottom presented the world with Neville Francis at 5:40 PM on 30 July. Ron and Ginny were less than thrilled with having to share the spotlight, and showed their displeasure by crying loudly any time anyone admired Neville. However, since they could be easily removed from the hospital room, this didn't do them much good.

And then, the very next day, Lily went into labor herself.

"I'd been... wondering... when it would happen," she said, panting with exertion. "I mean, I'm already... late..."

"Potter men take their time," said James, holding her hand. "I was two weeks late myself."

"You're assuming... he's a boy again... James. Remember... he could just as easily... be a girl..."

But James was right, for once in his life. Harry James Potter entered the world at 8:45 PM on 31 July, 1980, yelling at the top of his lungs and possessing both an impressive amount of his father's untidy black hair and (when he opened them) his mother's green eyes.

"Now, this is a real baby boom," said Sirius, handing Meghan to Peter so he could hold Harry. "I mean, how many do we have here? Six? No, seven now."

"Going to be eight in September," said Danger. "Bet you anything Hermione turns out to be a witch."

"I'd say we have most of a year for Gryffindor right here," said Evanie, holding Ginny.

"I'd say we have a major headache for McGonagall," said James, grinning at Lily. "She had enough trouble with four of us – imagine _eight..._"

"Do I have to?" said Lily. "I'm getting dizzy just thinking about birthday parties."

Remus summed it up best. "I think we're all in for a lot of fun these next several years. And a whole lot of aggravation."

* * *

(A/N: All right, there's going to have to be at least one more chapter. An Epilogue, I think, just to wrap everything up... and I'll tell you more when I write that, since it's very late and I have work tomorrow... happy Fourth of July, fellow Americans, and to everyone else, hope you had a nice day.) 


	18. Epilogue

Epilogue

"Fun and aggravation indeed," said Maura, lifting her glass. "To a world well made."

"Here, here," answered the rest of the company.

"So, what're we doing next?" asked Paul, looking down the table at Anne. "I mean, I know you. You're not happy unless you've got something going..."

Anne looked at Godric. "There was a reason I asked if there could be a children's table," she said in a long-suffering tone.

"Hoy! I'm at least 975 years older than you are!"

"And about a thousand times less mature," said Margaret repressively.

"Really, Paul dear, you need to learn what is and isn't appropriate at table," said Helga, buttering a roll. "Picking your nose, for instance."

Paul turned beet red. "I only did that once!"

"Once a week, more like," said Brenna.

"Or once a day," Sophia chimed in.

"Or once an hour..."

"Or once a minute..."

"Girls, that's enough," said Rowena. "You're going to give the Weasley twins ideas."

"Which set?" asked Brenna sweetly.

"Either."

Adam cleared his throat. "The lady would like to speak," he said, indicating Anne, who smiled at him gratefully.

Paul and the Ravenclaws immediately assumed poses of great dignity.

"You're not fooling anybody," said Alex under his breath.

"Oh yes, before I forget, I have something for you." Anne fumbled in her pocket and extracted a scrap of paper. "From a young lady of my acquaintance."

Alex accepted the paper and opened it. "J-A-N... is this someone's e-mail address?"

"I didn't have her phone number."

Alex's eyes lit up. "I see." He carefully tucked the paper away inside his robes.

"Now, then, to business," said Anne. "I have several ideas for what we can do next, since the main story's on hold until after a certain event..."

"You're going to love it," said Paul in a stage whisper.

"I'm sure I will. Why are we whispering?"

Paul dropped his fork and disappeared under the table as everyone laughed.

"Anyway, here they are," said Anne.

* * *

"That's a neat twist on that second one," said Alex a while later. "I like it."

"You would." Anne looked around the table. "Anyone else?"

"I really think you ought to continue Roman a Clef," said Adam. "It's been on hold for so long, and you know where it's going to go. So why not just type it up?"

"Don't you dare answer," Anne warned Alex, who was looking smug. "I'll certainly consider that."

"My personal favorite, of course, is the first one you mentioned," said Helga. "A sequel to this story. But we all know how my tastes run. And it may not be interesting to you, dear. Now the second one... that would be very interesting. A trifle distasteful, mind you, and out of your usual line, but you've done things of that sort before."

"Very true. But do you think I could pull it off?"

"Absolutely," said Rowena. "I believe you have all the necessary tools and skills. As Helga said, it is out of your usual line, but that only means you need practice in it all the more. So yes, I'd say the second one as well."

"Second one's getting more and more approval here... all right, I'll put that as a definite maybe. Now. Last item of business. What do I need to tell people to wrap up our Little Slice of Heaven?"

"Well, everyone seems confused about the Malfoys," said Alex. "You should probably specify that Lucius and Narcissa were both captured at the Great Battle, and haven't seen each other since, so it's highly unlikely any such person as Draco Malfoy will ever exist."

"Therefore, when Lucius dies, the Malfoy bloodline will be extinct," said Margaret. "And good riddance to it, too."

"And I do think you owe everyone an apology," added Brenna. "For leading them astray with one comment in your Prologue. You didn't send that one back to type after all."

"True enough. I thought it over and decided it would be easier for her to be allowed to enter school a year early than to have her grow up with them being nearly a year older than everyone. She's bossy enough as it is."

"But everything else you mentioned in the Prologue was done," said Sophia. "And nicely done too, I think."

"Thank you. Any other little tidbits?"

"Yes," said Helga. "You might remind people that werewolves cannot legally adopt children, and tell them that yes, of course more children may come. But they will not know about it. Not if you go through with your second plan..."

"And that makes things complicated," said Paul. "I mean, how many levels of alternity will we be on then? Three?"

"At least." Anne chuckled. "I do love confusing people."

"But you're so good at it."

"Is alternity even a word?" asked Maura.

"Now it is."

"And one other thing," said Alex. "I'd just like to thank Remus and Danger for naming that kid after me."

"Who said he was named after you?" demanded Anne.

Alex stared at her. "You mean he's not?"

Everyone cracked up laughing. "You look so wrong when you do the puppy-dog eyes," choked out Sophia.

Alex took exactly three seconds to realize he'd been had. His chair and Anne's both went flying, and the Founders were entertained by a high-speed chase around the Great Hall which lasted nearly a quarter of an hour and ended when Alex tried to teleport Anne into the lake, and Anne latched onto him and brought him with her.

"So, what, if anything, have you decided?" asked Godric, chuckling, as he conjured towels for both of them.

"Well, I'm almost definitely going through with the second one," said Anne, shaking her head and sending water everywhere. "Although I don't know when, because there's not enough time to finish before the, er, 'Blessed Event', and afterwards people are going to want more 'Living without...'"

"May I make a suggestion?" said Adam. "Why not run a poll?"

"Hey, great idea!" Anne beamed. "And people say Hufflepuffs never come up with anything."

* * *

(A/N: And so, if you want to have a say in what I write next, head on over to the Yahoo group and cast your vote today! Ask any questions that didn't get answered there, and yes, I will see about updating Roman a Clef – possibly tomorrow, but no promises! TTFN!) 


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